Today Mayor Hogsett announced that the City of Indianapolis is collaborating with LISC Indianapolis on a Small Business Technical Assistance Hub and Capacity Building Program, as well as supporting the growth of LISC’s Equitable Food Access Initiative and Food Justice Collaborative. The grant funds are made possible through $3.2M in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
“Through LISC, these grants will address two critical issues affecting prosperity in Indianapolis: food access and the health of our small business landscape,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett. “Together, we can improve upward mobility for families and industries hardest hit by the challenges our community has faced over the last several years.”
Grant Amount: $1.7M
Use: Creation of LISC Small Business Technical Assistance (TA) Hub & Capacity Building Program
Funds granted through City of Indianapolis’ Office of the Mayor LISC
LISC Indianapolis will create a TA Hub for small businesses to provide needed operations assistance including bookkeeping assistance, marketing and branding assistance, legal assistance, tax preparation, HR support, and more. In addition, the TA Hub will link businesses to credit repair and credit building loans available through the LISC-hosted Indianapolis Small Business CDFI Collaborative. LISC recently completed an RFQ for non-profits interested in co-developing the TA Hub. An independent grant committee reviewed applications and selected two partner organizations: Indy Black Chamber of Commerce and Indiana Small Business Development Center to provide small business and entrepreneurship services. Once live, the TA Hub will be a universal resource, accessible for existing small businesses and non-profits in Central Indiana.
In addition, LISC will administer a Capacity Building program to provide assistance to nine disproportionately COVID-impacted business development organizations. Subgrants to these organizations will be used to develop a key business area within their organization that needs capacity-building resources, such as financial management, strategic planning, digital transformation and/or executive coaching. Priority will be given to existing LISC partners.
“As the Indianapolis community works toward COVID recovery, the small business ecosystem will benefit from this online resource navigation platform and investment in recovery support services,” said Dr. David Hampton, Executive Director, LISC Indianapolis. “It is critical that the entire community come together to create a better ecosystem that will support small businesses, especially minority-owned businesses.”
Grant Amount: $1.5M
Use: Growth of LISC’s Equitable Food Access Initiative and Food Justice Collaborative
Funds granted through City of Indianapolis’ Office of Public Safety
LISC’s Equitable Food Access Initiative is a comprehensive approach to addressing immediate food access needs and upstream contributors to food insecurity in Indianapolis. The initiative is driven by the creation of the Food Justice Collaborative, whose membership consists of 40 individuals and 24 organizations that meet monthly under a community agreement to build a sustainable food system that assures food security for all residents. With this funding, LISC will work with food expert consultants for much-needed ecosystem mapping. In addition, the funding will allow the placement of seven community food builders within Indianapolis’ food deserts who are tasked with representing their neighborhoods and engaging with partners and public policy experts.
Also, LISC will administer subgrants to six organizations to support operations and logistics related to food security of underserved populations in Marion County, including Nine13 Logistics (a division of Nine13 Sports), Edna Martin Christian Center, Christamore House, Flanner House, CAFE (Community Alliance of the Far Eastside), and Growing Places Indy.
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