FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 5, 2019 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 75
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Photos courtesy of Sunnyside Shines
Sunnyside Shines launches program
off ering small businesses grants
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
Sunnyside’s Business Improvement
District, Sunnyside Shines, has launched
a new Business Assistance MicroGrants
program that will give $10,000 worth of
small grants to the neighborhood’s small
businesses.
Th e program is designed to help select
small storefront businesses with grants
of $1,250 each to cover the expenses that
will help them remain competitive and
relevant. Eligible expenses include storefront
improvements, costs associated with
scaling up, marketing tools or upgraded
equipment.
Business can also apply for interest-free
business loans of up to $10,000 through
Sunnyside Shines’ partnership with Kiva
crowdfunding platform.
Sunnyside Shines Executive Director
Jaime-Faye Bean believes this program is
the “very practical, straight-forward assistance
many businesses can use right now.”
To apply to Business Assistance
MicroGrants, businesses must visit www.
sunnysideshines.org/news/microgrants.
Applications in Spanish language will be
published in the coming days.
Applications will be accepted until Jan.
15, 2020, with awardees announced by
Feb. 29, 2020.
A review panel made up of members
of the Sunnyside Shines Community
Advisory Committee will make recommendations
for the fi nal awardees.
For the fi rst round of the program,
which is in its initial grant cycle, businesses
throughout Sunnyside — not just those
within Sunnyside’s BID corridor — are
eligible to apply.
“Businesses throughout Sunnyside have
been an integral part of our past marketing
programming, including Taste of
Sunnyside, Restaurant Week and more.
And throughout this fall, businesses
throughout the larger neighborhood have
been instrumental in helping us complete
a thorough Commercial District Needs
Assessment study so that we can better
serve Sunnyside in the future,” Bean
said. “Opening this fi rst round of awards
to all neighborhood businesses is our way
of showing appreciation for that partnership.”
An additional feature of the program is
that one of their awards will be made to a
neighborhood entrepreneur who doesn’t
currently own a storefront but is “contributing
signifi cantly to the commercial life
of the neighborhood.”
“Th e last two years we’ve started to
partner extensively with neighborhood
artisans and entrepreneurs, especially
through our pop-up markets programming,”
Bean added. “We recognize that
they, too, have strategic needs and that
this MicroGrant program can help them
grow, thrive and contribute to a vibrant
Sunnyside.”
Th e Business Assistance MicroGrants
program is funded by a discretionary
grant designated by Councilman Jimmy
Van Bramer.
“I am proud to allocate $10,000 to
support the Business Assistance
MicroGrants program,” Van Bramer
said. “Small businesses are woven into
the fi ber of our Queens community, and
it is important we do our part to enhance
opportunities for our residents. I am
enthusiastic about seeing new entrepreneurs
succeed through the eff orts of
Sunnyside Shines.”
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