Economic Development

Tuesday, July 7, 2020
The Partnership Loan Program for Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses in New Haven and the Lower Naugatuck Valley

NEW HAVEN, CT -- A new public-private partnership is offering low-interest and partially forgivable loans to local minority-owned and women-owned small businesses. The initial loan pool of $1.5 million will offer loans of up to $25,000 for small businesses located in New Haven and the lower Naugatuck Valley cities of Derby and Ansonia. The Partnership Loan Program for Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses in New Haven and the Lower Naugatuck Valley was created through a partnership among The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, HEDCO, Inc., the Amour Propre Fund and The City of New Haven.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020
UI and SCG Help Downtown Businesses Recover from COVID-19 Impacts

ORANGE, CT -- As part of a broader commitment to support COVID-19 relief and recovery AVANGRID subsidiaries, United Illuminating and Southern Connecticut Gas, are providing funding to support the struggling downtown business districts in Bridgeport and New Haven. They are providing $20,000 to Bridgeport's Downtown Special Services District to help small, independent, ground-floor businesses plan and execute their reopening. Another $20,000 grant will help the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven/REX Development provide micro-grants so that downtown restaurants and shops can provide safe outdoor dining and retail spaces.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Firebox, Hartford's farm-to-table restaurant with a community mission, to close after 13 years

HARTFORD, CT -- Firebox, the innovative farm-to-table restaurant in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, will close after 13 years, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and “the uncertainty it has brought.” The Melville Charitable Trust launched Firebox on Broad Street in 2007, with a vision “to serve extraordinary food and to bring jobs, investment, and opportunity to the community." The restaurant became a destination for locally grown fare, crafting its daily menus with produce, meats and dairy from Connecticut farms.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Bank of America, Travelers and City of Hartford Contributions Will Enhance Hartford Small Business Emergency Grant Program

HARTFORD, CT -- In April, the City of Hartford, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, HEDCO, Inc., and Capital For Change launched a $1 million Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program. The aim is to provide at least 100 small Hartford businesses with a grant of up to $10,000 to make lease or mortgage payments, pay salaries, make vendor payments, pay taxes, or make modifications to their physical space or technology to comply with social distancing guidelines. In an effort to support additional Hartford small businesses, Bank of America and Travelers have each made grants of $125,000 and the City of Hartford has allocated an additional $125,000 to the initiative.

Pages