Seeking to assist local minority-led businesses as they expand and grow, the city of Madison is proposing the Business Ready program to recruit participants and provide a combination of training, technical assistance, mentoring, and microenterprise grants to “help raise quality of life, increase wealth and jobs, and empower Madison’s communities of color,” according to a report from the Wisconsin State Journal. The initiative would run for approximately 18–24 months.
The city’s request for proposals states program participants would ideally be entrepreneurs with business concepts that “reflect retail or services” that benefit the Madison community.
Funding for the program totaling $300,000 would come from American Rescue Plan act money allocated to the city.
