by Sharelle B. McNair
August 13, 2025
Nancy Flake Johnson, president and CEO of the City League’s Atlanta chapter, mentioned there was $2.2 million left within the grant.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) isn’t backing down from the Trump Administration’s anti-DEI rhetoric, asking members to rethink federal grants that present help and technical help to a few of Atlanta’s budding Black companies, the Atlanta-Journal Structure studies.
In a letter despatched to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this month, Ossoff requested him to reinstate a $3 million grant to the City League of Higher Atlanta, stating that holding the funds hostage solely “punishes job creators, hinders Georgia’s financial development, and denies crucial providers from being delivered to my constituents.”
Ossoff highlighted that the funds that went towards the federal Capital Readiness Program administered by the Minority Enterprise Growth Company below the Biden administration.
In 2023, the nonprofit was one among 43 teams within the nation to obtain a portion of the $125 million grant, labeled because the largest-ever direct federal funding in small enterprise “incubators and accelerators.”
However the celebration was short-lived.
In April, President Donald Trump issued an government order to dismantle the MBDA. Ossoff’s letter argued for a decide’s ruling to reopen the MBDA and restore canceled grants.
Nancy Flake Johnson, president and CEO of the City League’s Atlanta chapter, mentioned her preliminary response to the cancelled four-year grant was “disappointment, naturally,” as there was $2.2 million left within the grant.
“This allowed us to actually zero in on one of many largest challenges that any small enterprise faces, and that’s having the capital they should function through the peaks and valleys of enterprise,” Johnson mentioned.
This system provided lessons, teaching, and alternatives for companies to satisfy with buyers, banks, and different teams that provide capital for development and sustainability. As well as, enterprise homeowners have been provided an accelerator to discover ways to get contracts.
Issues have been on monitor for the primary two years, based on the AJC, with greater than 3,000 companies taking part within the first yr. Johnson mentioned over 1,700 companies engaged between September 2024 and spring 2025.
Previous to the grant being canceled, the group helped virtually 20 small-owned companies safe $1.7 million in loans, grants, and contract alternatives. Roughly 130 companies graduated from the group’s coaching packages.
Nevertheless, Trump’s new wave of pondering has resulted in workers layoffs.
A number of nonprofits that cater to minority companies have suffered as Trump’s government order in opposition to range, fairness, and inclusion has cancelled funding, leading to some companies having to shut their doorways for good.
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