Michelle Ashley grew up along Beatties Ford Road, which made her decision to open Buzz City Bar & Grill there easy. Of course, as a small business owner starting a new business, that was one of the few easy decisions she has faced.

Thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Beyond Open CLT grant program — administered by FFTC and made possible by Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund — Ashley will buy a truck, which will help her with her supply runs.

"I'm very thankful for the program because it will allow me to do things I wasn't able to do before," she said. "I was struggling."

The grant is just one of the ways Beyond Open CLT is already helping local small businesses. The program recently announced $5.9 million in its first round of grantmaking to 178 businesses and nonprofits throughout Charlotte-Mecklenburg. From laundromats and construction companies to accounting firms and barbershops, the businesses that received funding in the first round of the Beyond Open small business grant program are as diverse as the business owners themselves.

Beyond Open’s goal is to help build economic mobility in Charlotte-Mecklenburg through support of diverse-owned (minority, woman, veteran, LGBTQ+) small businesses. The fund also works in conjunction with the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative: Priority is given to businesses located within and near one of the City of Charlotte’s six Corridors of Opportunity neighborhoods.

In the first round, 90% of recipients identified as a person of color and 61% identified as female, while 72% of businesses were located within or near one of the six corridors.

“Foundation For The Carolinas is proud to help build economic mobility in the community through Beyond Open,” said Tracy Russ, special advisor for civic initiatives at FFTC.

“We are grateful for each and every diverse small business owner who applied in Round 1 and shared their abundant talents, ingenuity and dedication. Their very strong participation created an energetic and extremely competitive selection process.”

To help reach communities, the first grant cycle was promoted through door-to-door canvassing and appearances at community events, workshops and applications in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, as well as advertising and news coverage in diverse-owned, local media outlets.

The Beyond Open Round 2 grant cycle timeline will be announced by mid-2023 and the Round 3 timeline in 2024. Eligible businesses, including Round 1 grant recipients, are encouraged to apply.

For more information: BeyondOpenCLT.com