Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Revitalize Rochester Fund offers $13 million in grants, loans to entrepreneurs

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks in Rochester on Tuesday.
Noelle E. C. Evans | WXXI News
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks in Rochester on Tuesday.

The Revitalize Rochester Fund is seeking entrepreneurs to apply for grants and loans to bring business and co-working spaces to underserved areas in Rochester.

The more than $13 million fund is available for people seeking to build businesses and worker cooperatives in neighborhoods like Bull's Head, where Mayor Lovely Warren and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke on Tuesday.

“People don’t want to leave their neighborhood to be able to go and get the supplies and the support that they need. They want to be able to stay here, and we want to bring those resources directly to you,” said Warren. “And that’s our plan.”

The mayor said this includes grocery stores and other businesses that meet the needs of the neighborhoods they’re in.

Part of the funding, $10 million, is from the Empire State Development Upstate Revitalization grant, while private lenders, including the Greater Rochester Housing Partnership, Key Bank, and others, contributed $3.1 million.

“This year, 2020, has been a reckoning on so many fronts and to realize there’ve been historic injustices against communities of color and we’re here to right those wrongs,” said Hochul.

Rochester Economic Development Corp. CEO Baye Muhammad said the funding is an opportunity for anyone looking to start or expand their business in the city.

“It’s neighborhoods and businesses that will inform us on what to do. This is not a top-down program. This is a program that will be street-level,” said Muhammad. “You’ll see us, we'll be hitting the streets with flyers.”

Workshops will begin as early as next week, Muhammad said. Those interested in applying for a grant can call 585-428-6579, according to the city.

Noelle E. C. Evans is WXXI's Murrow Award-winning Education reporter/producer.
Related Content