Disaster Assistance

SBA provides low-interest disaster loans to help businesses recover from declared disasters

As you may be aware, the U.S. Small Business Administration recently announced that federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans are currently available to eligible businesses operating in Kent and Washington Counties that experienced economic losses due to excessive rain over the course of this summer.

We know that extreme weather circumstances are outside of your control, and we want to ensure you have the tools and resources to access these funds should you need them.

• Application: You can apply for EIDL funding online by clicking here.
• Deadline: Applications must be received no later than May 6, 2024.
• Questions: Questions for the SBA can be sent to DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov.

If our team at Rhode Island Commerce can assist you in any way, please reach out to info@commerceri.com

Connect With Rhode Island Commerce

Commerce RI's goal is to stay in constant communication with Rhode Island's business community in a way that identifies and addresses their challenges. Check us out to view our full suite of programs and services.

Connect with our Business Advisors today!

401-521.HELP

The primary focus of the Rhode Island Minority Business Accelerator initiative is to address historical and current inequities in business ownership in Rhode Island. The Minority Business Accelerator (MBA) Free Technical Assistance consists of 11 technical assistance intermediaries which can be found on the MBA website.

TA will be available from September 2023 to June 30th, 2024

Any RI minority and woman-owned business is eligible

Are you a food business looking for grant funding? Financing? Or business assistance with subject matter experts? Check out the NEW Food Business Resource guide - regularly updated guide to funding, business supports, and technical assistance for food, farm, and seafood businesses in the Ocean State. 

The SouthCoast Wind Fund with a distribution of $500,000 to local nonprofits. Funding will be provided to non-profit organizations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with a focus on South Coast communities, that meet one of the following criteria:



• Support workforce development in the offshore wind and related industries through the creation of training, internship, and apprenticeship programs;
• Develop diversity in the future employment pipeline for the offshore wind-related industries and/or;
• Expand community awareness and advancement of the offshore wind industry through collaboration, education, and outreach.

Administered by the SouthCoast Community Foundation, applications are due October 13th and funds will be awarded in December of this year. 

Administered through the RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), RFSI will provide direct grants for mid-supply chain food businesses to increase capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced foods (excluding meat and poultry).

• The Portal will open until late fall 2023
• Grants range from $20,000 to $1 million for equipment, infrastructure, capacity building and more!
• Find out more on RIDEM’s RFSI webpage for updates and join the upcoming webinar, Sept 27th, 2-3pm 

Contact Jack Sisson at RIDEM jack.sisson@dem.ri.gov for questions.

Minority and Woman-Owned Supplier Spotlight:

Shri Studio, Service Corps & Bark Expands!

Alison Bologna, the founder of Shri, launched the yoga outreach social enterprise in 2010 in an empty downtown Pawtucket storefront, offering low-cost and free classes to students who didn’t have access to wellness services. On Aug. 28, she marked the official grand opening of the new 15,000-square-foot Shri headquarters in the Conant Thread District in Pawtucket, now expanding its mission into affordable housing too. 

After suggestions from Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien, and with funding from R.I. Commerce Corporation, RI Housing, PRF, the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency, Coastal1 Credit Union (and more!), Bologna and her husband revitalized the underused 19th-century property with help from PCF Development.

Learn more about Shri and its new mixed-income, multi-use building that Alison created. Shri serves 8,500+ RI residents every year. 

The trade mission to the Dominican Republic established a robust foundation for future collaborations and opened doors to new trade opportunities in this market. The six companies that traveled were supported by the STEP program and are BI Medical, EGN Consulting, Mainelli Tool & Die Inc., Kassumay, LLC, North East Knitting, and Verity Design. 

Companies’ owners shared, thus far, that they have received six potential orders from distributors and more orders could materialize after proper follow-ups.

• Kassumay's President, Bacary Diatta plans to take advantage of the storage facilities within free trade zones which allow 18 months of storage free of charge. He is preparing FOB prices to share with companies in the coming days.
• North East Knitting’s President, Alex DaRosa learned that there are 12 major brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Nike that manufacture apparel in the Dominican Republic and all of them could use materials he manufactures. He plans to keep developing relationships to start exporting in the coming months. 
• BI Medical’s Dr. Dioscaris Garcia, a resident of Rhode Island and born in the Dominican Republic, established promising connections with three distributors and gained insight into the regulatory processes to expand into this new market.
• Verity Design’s James Verity, and ENG Consulting’s Rick Simone, both in the hospitality sector, this trade mission provided networking opportunities vital to expand their operations in the Dominican Republic. Both were invited to return to further conversations on how to best partner going forward in a way that benefits all involved. 
• Mainelli Tools and Die owner, Merleann Poulton, had a similar experience and added that the trade mission surpassed all her expectations and plans to keep developing the connections she started and possibly design new products such as religious jewelry to target this market.

So far, the trade mission has been productive and successful and will provide a platform for future trade and partnership opportunities

NORTHEAST REGIONAL

BIPOC/ Minority Business & Nonprofit Conference Trade Show And Networking Events

Come grow your professional relationships with like-minded individuals and organizations from across the Northeast. Expand your spheres of influence by creating authentic connections with the movers and shakers in the region. Increase your list of contacts and leads while building genuine relationships throughout a day filled with exciting activities and curated experiences.

How Can Your Business Use AI?

SupplyRI and Trailblaze invite you to an in-person AI training session at Commerce RI on September 21th at 10 am.

This training session is a great opportunity to learn about the latest advances in AI and how they can be applied to your business. It is also a chance to network with other professionals who are interested in AI.

Join Chris Parisi, founder of Trailblaze Marketing. Chris and host of the AI Wave podcast. Chris is spearheading the charge to ensure Rhode Island is a leader in the AI Revolution and consults businesses on how to adopt AI into their organization and marketing.

We will cover a wide range of topics, including:

• The basics of AI
• How to apply AI to your business
• The latest AI trends and tools
• Interactive session for your business

This session is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about AI and how to use it to improve their business. Whether you are a business owner, manager, or employee, this session will give you the tools you need to succeed in the age of AI.

Innovation Studio's SHARE Program:

Learn to Tell Your Story with SHARE!

Innovation Studio Rhode Island is offering program graduates the opportunity to SHARE their story this fall. Every business needs to present the story behind their business to different audiences every day. Learn how to use the power of words to inform, persuade, educate, and entertain by building a pitch deck for essential clients, financial institutions, potential investors, and pitching competitions and how to position themselves as the best person to solve their customer's problems.

The program will end with exercises to help them define and refine their business pitch story and overcome any fear of public speaking.

The future of offshore wind comes down to three things:

Parts. Permits. People.

The U.S. offshore wind industry faces a crucial moment. Now is the time to unite stakeholders, regulators, and developers in critical conversations around project leasing and permitting in order to secure the promising future that sits just over the horizon. Offshore WINDPOWER 2023 will do just that. 

The conference and expo will explore crucial topics over two days featuring leading experts, industry leaders, and government officials: supply chain, leasing & and permitting, public engagement & and workforce.

Register today to join them in Boston where the industry will come together to forge the future of offshore wind.

MEDICA 2023

November 13-16th

Be part of MEDICA, one of the largest international medical B2B trade shows

With over 4,500 exhibitors from 66 countries and more than 81,000 visitors from all over the world, this is an ideal place to showcase innovative products and services from the fields of diagnostics, laboratory technology, health IT, mobile health, medical imaging, physiotherapy/ orthopedic technology, and medical consumables.

This is a STEP-eligible trade show. The cost is $6,500 and includes:

• Booth space
• Reception and networking events
• 2 show passes per company
• Listing in the MEDICA Exhibitor Directory.

Space is limited, first come first served. Contact Cecilia Pirotto if you are interested in this trade show.