By Margaret Jackson / NewsBreak Denver
(Denver, Colo.) Denver has a new program to provide one-on-one support for small businesses.
Funded with $600,000 from Denver’s federal American Recovery Plan Act dollars, the Business Navigator Program will use local nonprofits to provide technical assistance, information sharing on topics such as co-op development and employee ownership strategies and financial support to small businesses in the city’s hardest to reach communities.
“During the pandemic and its aftermath, historically marginalized communities have been impacted the most in terms of loss of employment and the decrease of minority-owned small businesses,” Mayor Michael Hancock said. “Justice is an economy that works for everyone, and our goal is to reduce barriers and level the playing field so workers can thrive and the opportunity to build wealth is available to everyone.”
As the city’s lead contractor for the program, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy will use a network of locally established nonprofit organizations to deliver information, workshops and one-on-one programming and funding application assistance.
“Over the next 16 months, our partners will build awareness of available city programs, offer workshops or other small-group training to provide technical assistance, promote readiness for a program application and guide businesses through the application process itself,” said Morgan Turner, the center’s policy advocate.
“This is yet another way for us to ensure businesses in our most vulnerable communities are on the path toward recovery from COVID-19.”
For more information, visit the city’s Business Navigators page.
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