As part of our anti-racism commitment, Next Street committed to launching a grant program to provide grant funding to BIPOC-owned small businesses using a percentage of our annual profit. We are excited to announce the selection of five Cincinnati small businesses as grantees of the inaugural year of the program. Learn more about the five selected businesses below.
Congratulations to the winners!
Switch is a modern lighting, furniture, and design emporium in Cincinnati’s West Fourth Street Historic District. They serve personal and commercial clients throughout the Cincinnati region and from New York City to San Francisco. During COVID-19, Switch suffered revenue losses of greater than 50%. Today, the company’s biggest challenge is absorbing the increased national and international freight costs due to the breakdown of the global supply chain. With the Next Street Small Business Grant award, Switch plans to upgrade their website to include video and other features to improve existing and new customer engagement.
Junebug Jewelry Designs celebrates women’s empowerment and independence with beautiful, intricate, original designs that are handmade. There’s a story behind every piece, and each piece is one-of-a-kind and limited-edition design. During COVID-19, Junebug suffered revenue losses of greater than 50%. Since people are still timid about going out to shop, Covid-19 greatly affected their retail location and customer traffic isn’t what it used to be. With the Next Street Small Business Grant award, Junebug plans to initiate new marketing initiatives, such as a photo/video shoot.
Court and Main, LLC
Slama Eminou is the owner of Court and Main, LLC, a restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio. During COVID-19 Court and Main suffered revenue losses of greater than 70%. Throughout the pandemic, the business faced challenges with managing their inventory and outdated refrigeration equipment. With the Next Street Small Business Grant award, they plan to buy new refrigeration equipment and improve their point-of-sale system.
Nahamani.org provides digital communication services to businesses and non-profit organizations. Founded in 2015, Nahamani.org offers professional website design and development, content creation, branding, and management consulting services. During COVID-19, Nahamani.org suffered revenue losses of greater than 30%. Many of their pre-existing clients were also adversely affected by COVID-19 and were struggling to meet their financial obligations, which has put a strain on the businesses cash flow. With the Next Street Small Business Grant award, they plan to improve their systems to scale the business, including setting up a CRM and automating other repetitive tasks to allow them to be more strategic in acquiring clients that can have the biggest impact.
Sugar Innovations is a dessert and sweets pop-up shop and catering business. During COVID-19 this business suffered revenue losses of greater than 50%. Prior to COVID-19 they were in the process of building out a food truck, but the project needed to be put on hold due to the loss of revenue during the pandemic. With the Next Street Small Business Grant award, they plan to restart the project to build out their food truck.
