- June 12, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
An emergency grant program for small businesses during the worst of the pandemic last year was supposed to give priority to minority and women-owned businesses in Mississippi in giving out grants up to $25,000 each from federal COVID-19 relief passed by Congress.
Although the program overall appeared to sputter — with only half the money allocated being spent — nearly half the grants approved did go to minority and women-owned businesses, as did $51.4 million of the $118 million in grants approved.
The Mississippi Development Authority, the agency that oversaw the grants using a private contractor, said it cannot provide a breakdown between minority-owned and women-owned businesses awarded grants. It reported that 18,015, or 53%, of all applications received for the program were from minority or women-owned businesses.
MDA reported that the entire Back to Business program awarded grants to 21,200 businesses, totaling $118 million. Of…
