25 minority businesses awarded MBE grants

As part of our continued efforts to promote local business success, we are excited to announce the recipients of the 2025 cohort of the MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) Grant program. The Entrepreneurial Advisory Committee has distributed a total of $270,000 in funding to 25 locally-owned small businesses. The grants were awarded in December 2024 for business costs to be incurred throughout 2025. The MBE Grant fund was established in 2020 as a response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and was funded with local donations.The goal of the fund is to promote sustained economic recovery and job retention for Black and Latinx-owned small businesses in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Over the past five years, the fund has allocated a total of just under $1.2 million, with the 2025 cohort marking the final round of recipients. Over the course of the five-year fund, 104 grants have been awarded to 76 local businesses in total.  This year’s recipients include 19 Black-owned businesses and six Latino-owned businesses. Each business received funding to support special projects or general operating expenses such as salary, wages, lease or rent payments, working capital, and capital expenditures. Grantees will report quarterly in 2025 on the use...