Arizona’s major cities are reinvesting in their small businesses in big ways. After being recognized as two of the top five fastest cities in the nation to recover from the pandemic, the City of Mesa and the Town of Gilbert are renewing their investment in small businesses. Both cities have launched another round of grant-funded assistance for small businesses through the HUUB small business and entrepreneur digital support platform. City of Phoenix will also begin offering grant-funded support through HUUB
businesses and entrepreneurs can request grant funds ranging from $1,000-$5,000 to pay for tactical support from a vetted network of diverse consultants. This support will move their company forward from pandemic recovery and help it become a more resilient business that can overcome any future adversity. Some examples of expert support offered include website improvement, digital marketing support, help with applying for grants and financial coaching.
More than 1,500 local Valley businesses have already received help for their business on HUUB over the past 15 months. For Gilbert business owner Subash Yadav, HUUB has been a game-changer.
“I was awarded free graphic design support and workshops that have helped me create a better training and management system for my business,” Yadav said. “I want to encourage more startups and small business owners to join HUUB.”
Beginning September 15, the grant-funded programs can be accessed through each city’s HUUB platform. The platform prioritizes communities of color and women by making sure resources are centralized, accessible anywhere and available in different languages. These essential resources are completely free for businesses located in their respective cities.
Applications will open on September 15, sign up for free here.
HUUB is a digital entrepreneur resource platform with built-in reporting and leading-edge tools to help city leaders support their small business community in a central, one-stop site. HUUB was born out of CO+HOOTS, an entrepreneur resource center that has provided training and support to nurture businesses from launch to growth for a decade. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit,our team quickly realized that aligning our mission with city governments would help overstretched economic development teams support increasingly struggling businesses through our community-building methodology. When city governments create access and lower barriers to entrepreneurship for marginalized entrepreneurs, we all win.
