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New fund to aid Black small business owners during pandemic

Applications for the Central Georgia Black Business Fund are now open!

MACON, Ga. — Last week, Central Georgia community leaders announced a new support fund aimed towards assisting Black-owned businesses hit hard by COVID-19.

The Central Georgia Black Business Support Fund was set up to make sure Black business owners are able to stay afloat during the pandemic.

"We know that Black businesses have been disproportionately impacted through the coronavirus pandemic," says Griffith Family Foundation executive director Tonja Khabir. "There are a lot of additional funding opportunities that happen throughout this community but we wanted to ensure that we could find an additional way to create that access."

Khabir, along with Alex Habersham of the Macon Black Pages, teamed up with United Way of Central Georgia and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to create the fund.

Local businesses applying for support may receive up to $2,500. According to Khabir, over 50 businesses have applied already.

In addition to financial assistance, representatives from organizations like The Urban CEO, Middle Georgia SCORE, and the Small Business Development Center will help businesses with marketing and community outreach.

"With the added challenge of coronavirus and the general racism that we as African Americans are exposed to, it makes things a little bit more difficult," says Khabir. "This is not going to be an end all be all, and we don't know what's happening in the future with coronavirus, but just a bit of relief is something that we want to support our community with."

You can apply for the Central Georgia Black Business Support fund online.

Applications close July 17.

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