Bliss Plaza and Arch (Photo: Sunnyside Shines)
Dec. 3, 2019 By Kristen Torres
Sunnyside Shines, a local business improvement district, has announced the launch of a new micro grant program designed to help neighborhood businesses.
The program will provide $10,000 in small grants that will be split among eligible store owners to cover certain expenses, such as storefront improvements and marketing tools, according to the organization.
Each grant will total $1,250. One award will also be given to a neighborhood entrepreneur who doesn’t currently have a storefront, but has contributed to the neighborhood’s commercial life.
Businesses throughout Sunnyside are eligible to apply, not simply through those within the BID corridor. The BID district covers sections of Queens Boulevard, Greenpoint Avenue and some adjacent streets.
The Sunnyside Shines district is represented in green. The program will also be available for Sunnyside business outside this area
Sunnyside Shines was created in 2007 to help spark economic growth in the community. The new MicroGrant program is designed to help small businesses “cover expenses that will help them remain competitive and relevant,” according to a statement by the organization.
Businesses will also have the opportunity to apply for interest-free business loans of up to $10,000 through Sunnyside Shines’ partnership with the Kiva crowdfunding platform.
The grant program is funded by a discretionary grant allocated by Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer.
“Small businesses are woven into the fiber of our Queens community, and it is important we do our part to enhance opportunities for our residents,” Van Bramer said. “I am enthusiastic about seeing new entrepreneurs succeed through the efforts of Sunnyside Shines.”
Applications for the micro grant program can be found on the Sunnyside Shines website at www.sunnysideshines.org/news/microgrants and will be accepted until Jan. 15, 2020.
The organization will announce the awardees by February 29, 2020.
Featured Events
9 Comments
LIC Direct – Ah, I see. Just a WAAH I want mine! rant.
What a joke, and the people thumbing down comments calling it a joke are the greedy shills trying to push for more buildings in sunnyside.
Theres no neighborhood
Theres no interest in small business
Just keep pumping the people into sunnyside and let them shop somewhere else.
Look at the small businesses we lost on Queens Blvd and 44th St. The small hardware store on the NW corner had been there for twenty years. The couple had to vacate after the Landlord doubled their rent. The bagel store next door was run out of business too. Any money given to small businesses is well deserved. The greed of these landlords is destroying Sunnyside. I look forward to every new awning I see. Welcome.
Bxgrl: $1250 won’t even get you tickets for 4 to see Hamilton on Broadway 0r a room at a crappy homeless shelter for a month – going rate $2,000 to $3,000 per month paid by the city to the greedy connected friends of the Mayor who lease the buildings to the DHS shelter system. This is a giveaway of our tax dollars by Jimmy Van Bramer. What a farce. I too want a piece of the action and will lease my home to a city agency so they run half-way house at $15,000 or $20,000 per month to the best tenant in this town, the City of New York that would improve the neighborhood, increase property prices, make it safer, family friendly area to raise your kids, etc.
LIC Direct – where’s the waste here? It’s not like it’s a billion gazillion megabuck handout like the big corporations get – are you bothered by that? Bothered by the fact that, e.g., Amazon pays exactly %0 in taxes?
That should cover a few inches of bike lane.
This is what happens when the city gives money to people who dont know what to do with it. They just redistribute it so it seems like they are doing something. Waste.
Haters gonna hate.
You can even purchase an awning for a store front or even replace the front gate of a store front. This is a waste of taxpayer dollars