June 30, 2021

County Nonprofits Can Apply for Special Recovery Development Grants from July 6-16

Competitively selected grants ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 will be awarded to Montgomery County nonprofits whose work aligns with the State’s intent to assist community organizations that create and sustain jobs. Nonprofits that serve the larger community with a mission or program focused on economic development and economic recovery are eligible to apply. The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) will be accepting applications from July 6-16.

In their applications, nonprofits must describe their current or proposed work in support of one of the four identified priorities of minority and women entrepreneurship; STEM education, research and innovation development and small-scale manufacturing.

In addition to the basic grants outlined, the program also will award enhanced funding to two selected local nonprofits. One $100,000 grant and one $50,000 grant will be awarded for programs that best demonstrate a substantive impact on the Montgomery County economy in one or more of the four identified priorities. These two nonprofits will be chosen from the general application pool—a separate application is not required.

MCEDC will be accepting applications beginning Tuesday, July 6. All applications must be submitted to MCEDC no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, July 16. The funds will be distributed to all selected nonprofits by Sept 1 and the nonprofit must make use of the funds no later than Dec. 31.

More information about the program, including how to apply for the grants is available at https://thinkmoco.com/covid-19-resources/nonprofits-grant-program.

The applications for the program will not be available until July 6.

An informational webinar about the program will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7. More information about the webinar can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3pxttkpv.

The Maryland General Assembly, during its 2021 session, enacted the bipartisan RELIEF Act of 2021 and Governor Larry Hogan signed the bill into law. Among its provisions were that the State’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) would receive $20 million in Maryland Recovery Now Funds to support the work of local nonprofits throughout the State.

DHCD is providing proportional funding based on population to Maryland’s local economic development organizations to distribute the grants. Accordingly, $3,475,831 has been allocated to Montgomery County for this program.