Lifting Up Small Businesses in The Bronx Grant Program

The Lifting Up Small Businesses in The Bronx, NY Small Business Grant is a private grant initiative presented by Optimum Business and the Bronx Chamber of Commerce to support the growth and long-term success of small businesses in the Bronx, New York. The program provides a total of $145,000 in grant funding. Its stated purpose is to support local businesses and strengthen the Bronx small business community. The program is specifically focused on eligible businesses located in the Bronx within communities served by Optimum. The program provides $5,000 grants to 25 eligible small businesses and also provides one $20,000 grand prize grant. The stated program total of $145,000 is consistent with 25 awards of $5,000, totaling $125,000, plus a $20,000 grand prize. The source describes the grants as supporting local businesses in their growth and long-term success, and applicants must explain how receiving the grant would help grow their company and positively affect the community they serve. No detailed list of allowable or prohibited expenditures, grant period, indirect cost limitations, or other spending restrictions is provided in the supplied material. No matching funds or cost-share requirement is stated. Eligibility is limited to qualifying small businesses. An applicant must have a brick-and-mortar business location in a community served by Optimum, and the program specifically states that selected businesses will be in the Bronx, New York, in an Optimum serviceable area. The business must maintain a team of 10 or fewer employees and must have been open for at least one year. Applicants must also agree to participate in promotional materials for the grant program. The application requires the applicant to explain how the grant will help grow the company and have a positive impact on the community it serves. The supplied material does not establish eligibility for nonprofits, individuals, government entities, educational institutions, or other organization types. Applications are submitted through the linked program application form. Applicants are required to read the Official Rules before submitting an application. The supplied application material also explains that applicants agree to certain promotional and media permissions, including the potential use of photographs, videos, film, audio recordings, image, voice, likeness, and video footage by the Administrator. No letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, or other pre-application gating requirement is stated in the supplied material. Applications must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on September 1, 2026. The Administrator reserves the right to change or extend the application deadline in its sole discretion. Following review by a Selection Committee, businesses are anticipated to be notified in October. Applicants selected to receive a Lifting Up Small Business Grant will be subject to a background check before receiving grant funds and will be asked to consent to the check and submit required information at the appropriate time. No further scoring methodology or detailed evaluation criteria are stated beyond review by the Selection Committee and the application's required explanation of anticipated business growth and positive community impact. No named individual program contact is provided in the supplied material. The Bronx Chamber of Commerce lists info@bronxchamber.org and (718) 828-3900 as its general contact information, with an address of 1200 Waters Place, Suite 112, Bronx, NY 10461. The source does not state an application opening date, performance period, grant expenditure deadline, or recurring annual or other periodic schedule. The supplied information identifies this as the 2026 program and provides no statement that the opportunity will recur. Accordingly, no future cycle is established by the source.

Clearly connect the proposed use of grant funds to company growth and positive community impact. Confirm that the brick-and-mortar location is in an Optimum-serviceable area, that the business has 10 or fewer employees, and that it has been open for at least one year.