Over the past 10 months, a $55 million commitment from Lowe’s enabled LISC to deploy emergency relief and resiliency grants to nearly 2,782 small businesses, mostly minority- and woman-owned enterprises, in rural and urban communities all across the country. That translates into thousands of livelihoods, jobs and business ecosystems still intact through the economic fallout of the pandemic.
In the frightening early days of America’s COVID-19 lockdown last spring, it became instantly clear to us that small businesses risked being decimated by the pandemic’s financial fallout. And that risk was much higher for entrepreneurs of color, woman-owned businesses, and small enterprises operating in under-resourced communities—so many of whom have historically been cut off from mainstream sources of capital and have little or no financial padding to keep going if revenue starts to plummet.
LISC saw this crisis coming, and so did Lowe’s Home Improvement, who joined us in partnership to fund and disburse an unprecedented number of grants to small businesses across the country—in record time. Because there was no time to lose.
This month marks the culmination of that extraordinary early phase of our collaboration: together, in just 10 months, we awarded $55 million in grants to 2,782 small businesses in communities across the country. Eighty nine percent of grants went to minority-owned business, 67 percent are woman-owned, and 67 percent are located in under-resourced communities.
Nearly 45 percent of the total disbursed, or 1,259 grants, were targeted to businesses in rural America, many of which also endured another onslaught—the damages from hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters of 2020. The funds reached entrepreneurs across the spectrum of industries, from restaurateurs, bakers and caterers (who were so hard hit by the shutdowns) to the construction trades to small farmers and artisans.
These grants signify countless livelihoods and jobs saved or restored, goods and services delivered in communities that rely on them, supply chains that remained intact, taxes paid, neighborhood vitality preserved and nurtured. They also speak to an equitable system of grantmaking that we devised in answer to Lowe’s financial commitment and to our own longstanding dedication to serving entrepreneurs who might fall through the cracks of other capital access systems. From follow-up survey responses, we are learning that these grants have made the difference for so many—keeping the doors open and the payroll going when they otherwise might not.
A portion of these grants— $1.4 million—has gone to 48 local business development organizations in urban and rural areas of 24 states and Puerto Rico. These groups have held the hands of entrepreneurs through this harrowing time and continue to provide the coaching and support they need to weather the pandemic and emerge savvier and more resilient.
LISC’s partnership with Lowe’s, like no other, has ramped up our ability to support small businesses and the people who run them, work with them and benefit from their work ethic. And perhaps best of all, for us, has been meeting a great number of these amazing entrepreneurs, whose dreams, creativity and spirit of generosity enrich their communities in countless, wonderful ways. We'd like you meet some of them. Discover their stories below.
The Snack Shop, rural Louisiana
KungFood Chu's Amerasia Cafe, Covington, KY
Indy Violins, Indianapolis, IN
Twenty Eleven Construction, Chicago, IL
Dodo Farms, Brookville, MD
Accessible Solar & Energy Storage, San Ysidro, CA
