This year the Aurora Chamber of Commerce will be awarding 5 small business grants.  The Rise Up and Scale Up Grants will provide $2,500 to each of 4 businesses who are looking to build or scale their businesses.  The Media Grant will provide $5,000 in services offered by Addison Marketing Solutions to support your customer facing media presence, in areas such as website, social media, etc.

Eligibility Requirements:

Rise Up Grant for small businesses:

• Revenue: The business must be revenue generating under $50K
• Business size: The business may or may not have any employees
• Business type: The business must be a for-profit business operating in Aurora
• Business stage: The business must be in the start-up stage and in operation for less than 2 years
• Business purpose: The business must have a clear mission and purpose
• Financial need: The business must demonstrate a clear need for funding and how the grant funds will be used.
• Impact: The business must demonstrate how the grant funds will have a positive impact on the business and the broader community
• Two (2) grants will be awarded in 2024

Scale Up Grant for small businesses:

• Revenue: The business must be revenue generating between $51K and $200K
• Business size: The business should have at least 1 employee or contract employee equivalent
• Business type: The business must be a for-profit business operating in Aurora
• Business stage: The business must be in operation for at least 2+ years
• Business purpose: The business must have a clear mission and purpose
• Financial need: The business must demonstrate a clear need for funding and how the grant funds will be used.
• Impact: The business must demonstrate how the grant funds will have a positive impact on the business and the broader community
• Two (2) grants will be awarded in 2024

Media Grant for small businesses (Sponsored by Addison Marketing Solutions)

• Revenue: The business must be revenue generating up to $200K.
• Business size: The business may or may not have employees
• Business type: The business must be a for-profit business operating in Aurora
• Business stage: The business must be in operation for 1+ years
• Business purpose: The business must have a clear mission and purpose
• Financial need: The business must demonstrate a clear need for funding and how the grant funds will be used.
• Impact: The business must demonstrate how the grant funds will have a positive impact on the business
• One (1) grant will be awarded in 2024

The grant application process is now open and will close on August 30, 2024. Small businesses can apply by completing the following application form. All applications will be reviewed, finalists will be interviewed and the recipients will be chosen.

Key dates are as follows:

• Applications Intake: July 15 – August 30, 2024
• Application Review: September 2 - September 30, 2024
• Notification to recipients: October 4, 2024
• Presentation: Business Excellence Celebration, October 23, 2024