Westchester's Business FIRST grants have provided awards to certified MWBEs, service-disabled veteran-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises based in the county, alongside an ongoing MWBE certification and training programme.
Westchester County has run Business FIRST — Financial Investments for Recovery and a Sustainable Tomorrow — providing grants to Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs), certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOBs) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) whose primary location is in Westchester County. Awards under the programme have ranged from $5,000 to $45,000.
Separately and on an ongoing basis, the county runs a Minority and Women-Owned Business Program offering certification, workshops and training for local firms.
Grant rounds open and close, so check current availability directly with the county's Office of Economic Development before relying on any figure here.
Why this matters in District 11: our commercial corridors — downtown New Rochelle, North Avenue, Wolfs Lane, Fifth Avenue and the Boston Post Road — are full of exactly the businesses these programmes are written for, and most owners have never heard of them. That is a failure of outreach, not of interest.