Verizon + LISC helping small businesses succeed

Small businesses succeed despite pandemic closures, reopening challenges

How Verizon helped small businesses stay afloat.

By: Stephanie Walden, for Verizon

Perhaps the reigning theme for small businesses this past year and a half has been uncertainty – and getting comfortable with it. Luckily for Kimberly McGlonn, co-founder of Grant BLVD,  Black-owned, women-owned sustainable apparel company based in Philadelphia, being nimble is woven into her company’s DNA.

The organization, which aims to use fashion to create space for conversations about climate change and justice reform, was already accustomed to taking a creative approach not only to its products, but to its entire business model. Still, it was stressful to figure out how to proceed with “business as usual” in the early days of the pandemic – especially since Grant BLVD had just secured its first brick-and-mortar lease. The company originally intended to open the space in March 2020, but ultimately ended up pushing that date by four months. Despite the hurdles that the pandemic has presented, Grant BLVD has persevered.

Strength in numbers

One way in which McGlonn and other small business owners have given back and found community during the pandemic has been by joining Verizon’s small business advisory board, comprised of nine women and minority business owners. The panel served as a sounding board and safe space for these entrepreneurs to discuss specific challenges and share solutions for staying solvent during difficult times. “It was really an inspiring collection of small business owners from across the country,” explained McGlonn.

“All of us were figuring out how to meet a moment in human history that was super challenging.” Odun Olalere, a pediatric nurse practitioner and founder of KinderHealth, a pediatric primary care office, was also invited to participate in the advisory board. “It was a great initiative at a time when [business owners like me] weren’t sure what to do,” she said. “I take care of children; I don’t normally handle the business part of this.” In addition to bouncing ideas off of one another, the advisory board participants gave Verizon insights into the development of Verizon Small Business Digital Ready. The online curriculum provides free access to personalized learning plans, expert coaching sessions and networking opportunities with other diverse businesses. The resources, which are intended to help small businesses thrive in the new and rapidly evolving digital economy, fall into three buckets: digital marketing, operational efficiency and managing finances.

The LISC grant: A lifeline for small businesses

Of course, financial matters have been a main topic of conversation among the small business advisory board members. To this point, Verizon’s online curriculum offers specific resources dedicated to financial practices, such as finding financing. It will also offer an exclusive pool of grants for which participants can apply. For some businesses during the pandemic, traditional sources of financial assistance – such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – were either unavailable or insufficient for weathering the brunt of the storm. Many had to look elsewhere for additional aid.

In 2021, Verizon provided $10 million in grants to help small businesses navigate this challenging time. The investment, made to Local Initiatives Support Corp (LISC), provided grants of up to $10,000 to small businesses in underserved communities around the United States, ultimately impacting 929 organizations. Of grant recipients, 94% were entrepreneurs of color, 80% were woman-owned and 87% were located in distressed areas with low-or-moderate-income tracts (urban) or persistent poverty counties (rural). Many recipients used the funds to maintain payroll, pay rent and address critical operational expenses.