Grants for Business

Wow,

After 16 years or grants consulting without business grants ever coming up, now I'm starting to get several calls a month and I'm worried it will just get worse. The quick answer is there aren't grants for for-profit businesses. I tell people this and refer them to the small business
administration, or credit counseling or home buying programs. But each one takes time and energy. We're the unintended collateral victims of scams.

This is resulting from the late night TV scam artists who have moved onto the Internet and are now doing full page ads in newspapers for "conferences" where they tell people there's "free government money" to pay off your debts, start your business, buy a home, etc. The most aggressive are Mark Lasko and the National Grants Conference, but there are several. Just type "grants" into Google and they pop up in the paid ads on the right side. There's even one that "exposes" the others as scams to get you to buy their books! I actually got a telemarketing call a couple of months ago from someone saying they would guarantee me $8,000 of free overnment money, they just needed all of my bank account information and my mother's maiden name.
When I called the FBI, Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau to report this, I was told they get thousands of calls -- but of course no-one can do anything.

Having said all that, there are some very targeted programs for enterprise zones, rural programs, etc. Most of these that I'm aware of are through local development agencies, or local government programs funded from CDBG grants. I don't know of any grants for minority or women owned businesses specifically, but there are some contracting set asides in various local,
state and federal programs. None of these are in the purview of the kind of grantwriting most of us do, so the best thing is to refer them to the local development agency.

Michael Wells
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Michael Wells
Grants Northwest
NOTE NEW ADDRESS
1020 SW Taylor, Suite 545
Portland, Oregon 97205
www.grantsnorthwest.com