As part of National Small Business Week, the city of Madison’s Economic Development Division is highlighting some of the programs and resources offered to local business owners through the Office of Business Resources:
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Kiva is a crowdfunding platform that provides loans to small business owners and startups at 0% interest, giving new business owners up to $15,000 in crowd-funded loans. The city offers a match program for Kiva loans for businesses that work with designated community partners, which gives qualifying businesses access to an additional match loan of up to $7,500.
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The city’s Building Improvement Grant program helps business owners cover some of the capital costs associated with renovating the interior and exterior of their retail spaces. Grants are available for qualifying businesses in the State Street area (TID 50), Park Street area (TID 51), East Washington and Stoughton Road area (TID 52), Wilson Street area (TID 53), and Pennsylvania Avenue area (TID 54).
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The Commercial Ownership Assistance program helps business owners expand by transitioning from rental spaces to owning their own commercial property, specifically focusing resources on communities that have historically faced barriers to accessing the capital needed to start or grow their businesses.
