Wisconsin Rural Equity Grant Program Application

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The Wisconsin Rural Equity Grant Program is a tailored grant program to assist diverse small businesses in northern Wisconsin. Particularly for businesses that are underbanked and have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This initiative is part of the Diverse Business Assistance Grant Program from the Wisconsin DOA and is powered by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The Entrepreneur Fund is proud to partner with the DOA to deliver this opportunity to small businesses.

Application Due: November 4, 2024

Step 1 – Carefully review the eligibility requirements and documentation.

Step 2 – Complete the form below by November 4th to be considered. We look forward to partnering with you to increase equity and reduce disparities in rural areas of Wisconsin!

Grant Awards will be announced in early December.

Business Name

Business Is located in

Native Nation Affiliation

Business Owners

Please add the owner information for anyone with a 1% or greater share of the business.

Please chose the "Add another response" option for each owner.

First Name

Last Name

Email

Business Address

Street Address

City

State

Postal Code

Business Email

Business Phone

What is your grant request amount, up to $10,000? Please use numbers only.

Please provide a brief overview of your business’ primary activities.

Diverse Business Targets

BIPOC Business Ownership

What percentage of the business is owned by persons who identify as Black, Indigenous or Person of Color?

Female Business Ownership

What percentage of the business is owned by persons who identify as women/female?

LMI Business Ownership

What percentage of the business is owned by persons of Low to Moderate Income?

Rural Community Location

Is the business located in a community with less than or greater than 10,000 population?

In order to confirm you LMI status, the following information is required.

2023 total combined household income

Number of adults and children living in your household

County of Residence

Other County Name

In a concise project plan, please explain how this grant will help improve or grow your business.

What specific needs, barriers, opportunities, or challenges does your business currently face that this grant will help you overcome or achieve? How was your business financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Please provide a 90-day implementation plan that outlines one clear goal and the action steps you will take to achieve it.

Please provide an itemized list of how the funds will be allocated within your project plan.

How will the use of this grant and the implementation of your project demonstrate increased equity and reduced disparity for diverse businesses?

How do you plan to measure the success or impact of this grant on your business?

Is there anything else you would like to share or emphasize regarding your business and its eligibility?

File Upload

Please submit your 2023 business tax returns and any additional supporting documents or information you believe would support your application (Financial statements, business plans, references, etc.)

The maximum file size of uploads is 35 MB total of all combined files. Please remove any special characters from the titles of uploaded files (examples: / _ - & %).

Document upload

We are only accepting applications from businesses located in specific areas of our service area. Thank you for your interest.