Eighty percent of businesses in Westminster are considered small businesses.
The city actively works to support this large group by providing a variety of programs, including the Small Business Capital Project Grant and the Small Business Scholarship program. Both programs are geared to help businesses gain success, while providing goods and services to the community.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our community,” said Ryan Johnson, an economic development specialist for the city. “We have been providing programs and services to small businesses for more than 20 years, but it’s always good to remind people of what is available to them.”
The Small Business Capital Project Grant program offers financial assistance to encourage the growth of existing businesses that have 50 or fewer employees. Johnson said the program is designed to help pay for project-related costs.
The grant amount is 10 percent of the project cost, with a maximum amount of $5,000. Businesses can apply for the grant once per calendar year, and tangible costs can include office furnishings, specialized equipment, software purchases, IT equipment, capital improvements and machinery.
“The goal of the program is to provide incentives to people to keep investing in their business,” Johnson said. “That is why we provide grants for those one-time big projects.”
The Small Business Scholarship program provides reimbursement of business-training expenses to licensed Westminster entrepreneurs, small-business owners and employers with 50 or fewer employees. Johnson said the program reimburses 50 percent of the cost of tuition, fees and required materials up to $500 per business, per calendar year, if there is successful completion of the courses. The courses may include management, finance, marketing, sales, computer skills, human resources, manufacturing trades and new technology.
“What makes this program so great is the flexibility the business owners and employees have in choosing the type of training they need,” Johnson said. “It is intended to be pretty easy and straight forward and flexible to meet the needs of the business.”