Brew City Match announced this week the latest group of 25 BIPOC small business owners, as well as commercial property owners, that have been accepted into the program.
Through Brew City Match, small business owners and commercial property owners can apply for grants of up to $100,000 to renovate their storefronts and purchase equipment. Business owners also receive business coaching. The program also works to connect entrepreneurs with local resources and networks to help them succeed.
The program will invest $3.5 million over a period of two years. The latest Brew City Match cohort includes:
- Adjusted Crowns LLC
- Alphabet Corner mke
- Clearcut Solutions
- The Code-Switcher, LLC
- Coffee Makes You Black
- Cream City Moto
- Earth Angel LLC
- Euphorik Oasis
- Flystrate clothing brand LLC
- Fun Seeker Fitness
- Glow Studios LLC
- Gray Jett Enterprises LLC
- Grind and Shine Solutions LLC
- Infinite Event Venue LLC
- Jvst Beauty
- Pivot RR, LLC
- Prenasis Hair Gallery/Salon Lavish
- Super Expedite LLC
- Victory Vision Business Ventures, S.C.
- Wardlaw Productions LLC
Each business will receive scholarships for business coaching and/or funding to support the buildout of their brick-and-mortar space or to improve their operations.
“There is so much opportunity in Milwaukee, and it’s exciting to be able to watch these talented entrepreneurs grow their businesses and help catalyze opportunities for neighborhoods to thrive,” said Theodore Lipscomb, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) Milwaukee, which helps run the Brew City Match program. “We are proud of all of our Match Day recipients, and we are more committed than ever to supporting their success.”
Brew City Match, which launched in 2019 with a $3.5 million grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, is designed to catalyze small business growth in neighborhoods surrounding downtown Milwaukee by providing access to financing and technical support and matching qualifying businesses with vacant properties.
Since 2019, Brew City Match has provided $1.16 million in grants to 68 businesses, which has resulted in the redevelopment of 54 commercial properties and the creation of more than 250 jobs in underserved areas.
In the next two years, the organization plans to invest in different Milwaukee neighborhoods including Historic King Drive, the North Avenue Marketplace BID, the Near West Side, Cesar Chavez Drive, Historic Mitchell Street and the RiverWorks corridors.
“It’s critically important that we provide access to economic opportunity for Black and Brown business owners as they start up, stabilize, adapt and grow,” said Travis Spell, LISC economic development program officer. “Brew City Match is doubling down on our efforts to make this happen.”
