Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, Inc.
ICIC will bring Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) to Baltimore, a business technical assistance program started in 2005 to help urban entrepreneurs better position themselves to access capital, increase revenues, grow their businesses and create jobs. The program specifically targets companies located in areas with high rates of poverty and unemployment, and they accept businesses that draw 40 percent of their employment from economically distressed communities. Grant funds will be used for stipends and travel of business school professors and finance professionals providing the training in Baltimore City.
Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering
The Baltimore Healthcare Innovator Retention Program fellowship stipends enable talented Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineering students to continue working on promising healthcare innovations after they complete their graduate studies. These teams of Fellows operative as virtual startups creating commercially viable products, seeking follow-on funding, and creating new companies. The program maximizes the translation of discovery and invention from the University biomedical program into income-generating companies which have the potential to generate local employment.
Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Watch will provide research, education and advocacy around issues of affordability of water and wastewater consumption in Baltimore City by low income customers. Grant funding will be used toward best practices information from a research consultant and expert on utility affordability, the production and distribution of educational and promotional materials, and staff costs of outreach, civic engagement and community education about water utility customer affordability issues.
Civic Works, Inc.
Civic Works’ Retrofit Baltimore program offers weatherization, home energy efficiency and health & safety improvements to low and moderate income households. Utilizing competitive Maryland Energy Administration funding and BGE utility rebates, the program expects to complete 100 energy audits, energy efficient weatherization improvements in 50 homes, and bedbug remediation in 50 homes and screen all households for property tax credits, water bill discounts and federal nutrition benefits. The grant covers expenses for staff to promote the program, screen applicants for benefits, establish scopes of work, manage contract implementation, and ensure quality control.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation created a three-year strategy of pooled resources from multiple foundations to strengthen and support inclusive small business development technical assistance providers and Community Development Finance Institution small business lenders in Baltimore City. An annual cohort of six providers will receive staff and consultant support, technology improvements, marketing and fundraising assistance, and reporting system integration to strengthen the pipeline of small businesses qualified for loans in the $50,000 to $250,000 range, particularly focused on entrepreneurs of color.