Vice President Kamala Harris will unveil the winners of $125 million in grants aimed at helping small business entrepreneurs in underserved communities access capital, with Bridgeway Capital receiving $2 million of the funds.
(Bloomberg) — Vice President Kamala Harris will unveil the winners of $125 million in grants aimed at helping small business entrepreneurs in underserved communities access capital, with Bridgeway Capital receiving $2 million of the funds.
Harris will announce the 43 grant winners at an event in Washington on Friday as part of the administration’s latest attempt to push its “Bidenomics” agenda ahead of the 2024 election.
In addition to Bridgeway — whose grant will help at least 340 minority-owned and rural entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio — recipients include the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation in Phoenix; the Urban League of Greater Atlanta; and the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council in Silver Spring, Maryland, according to a White House fact sheet.
The grants stem from the Capital Readiness Program, which is funded by President Joe Biden’s pandemic-relief package, the American Rescue Plan. The administration characterized the program as the largest-ever direct federal investment of its kind in small business incubators and accelerators.
Friday’s event is part of a broader push to sell voters on the Biden administration’s economic accomplishments and improve the president’s standing on the economy with skeptical voters. Biden, Harris and Cabinet officials have crisscrossed the country in recent weeks to promote their economic policies.
Biden has seen gross domestic product growth, a strong jobs market, wage gains, and cooling inflation, but polls show voters still disapprove of his handling of the economy, an issue critical to his reelection prospects. Biden faces additional economic and market headwinds after Fitch Ratings on Tuesday stripped the US of its top-tier credit rating, likely spurring a new round of fiscal fights.
Read more: Fitch’s US Downgrade Is Stoking the Very Fight It Warned Against
“President Biden and I are fighting to ensure that every entrepreneur in America — no matter who they are or where they live — can access the capital to start or grow a business, create jobs, and thrive,” Harris said in a statement.
The grant recipients will help entrepreneurs attain resources, networks and support to begin or enhance their businesses in fields ranging from healthcare to climate technology, according to the White House.
The effort is intended to aid entrepreneurs who have not always been able to access capital, a senior administration official told reporters on a call Thursday, adding that recipients should receive the funding by mid-September.
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