Impacct Brooklyn, formally known as the Pratt Area Community Council, has received a $15,000 grant from BNY Mellon. The funds will be used to provide technical assistance services that will improve the operations of small businesses owned by members of the Black, Indigenous and persons of color (BIPOC) community.
“BIPOC businesses were more likely to be distressed before COVID-19,” Impacct Brooklyn Executive Director Bernell Grier said. “The pandemic compounded many problems for these businesses, with one being a lack of access to business funds. Sadly, BIPOC business owners have less access to financing than their non-BIPOC counterparts, and the financing they do receive comes after additional scrutiny and with a higher interest rate than it would for non-BIPOC business owners. The BNY Mellon grant will enable Impacct Brooklyn to meet BIPOC business owners’ needs so they can continue serving their local communities by providing employment and needed products/services.”
Impacct Brooklyn is dedicated to building and sustaining flourishing communities. Its five main goals are:
- Preserving and developing safe and affordable housing for all.
- Supporting vibrant local commerce and empowering small businesses to serve their local communities.
- Promoting knowledge by providing access to quality education and encouraging people to learn from each other.
- Promoting economic, racial and cultural diversity.
- Encouraging a sense of personal responsibility in community members to foster a culture in which every single person contributes to the greater good.
Impacct Brooklyn’s team offers services to current and aspiring BIPOC business owners in Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. These include offering workshops to help new business owners develop a successful business plan and marketing plan, offering loan application assistance in partnership with financial institutions, providing advice on legal and accounting issues and helping with lease review and negotiations.
Impacct Brooklyn is also dedicated to revitalizing commercial corridors to improve business prospects in the local communities they serve. It is revitalizing the Fulton Street commercial corridor with the end goal of bringing $250,000 into the local area for storefronts, facades, streetscape improvements and affordable apartment units.
