BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh University has gotten a $2.16 million state grant to support historically disadvantaged small businesses in the Lehigh Valley and other surrounding counties, the university announced Monday.
Lehigh is among 11 grant awardees in Pennsylvania tasked with creating a business assistance service center to offer technical assistance and business support to local entrepreneurs, according to a university news release.
With its $2,156,887 in grant funding, Lehigh’s Small Business Development Center — which celebrates its 45th anniversary this year — will help historically disadvantaged small businesses in Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill counties.
“This grant will allow us to improve our service delivery while significantly expanding our reach and impact within the communities we serve."Brett Smith, director of Lehigh’s Small Business Development Center
A historically disadvantaged small business is one owned by "one or more socially or economically disadvantage persons," according to the state's program guidelines.
The disadvantage could be based on cultural, ethnic or economic backgrounds.
Some examples of groups that qualify are African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans.
To provide support to local small businesses through the program, Lehigh will partner with Kutztown University, Wilkes University and The University of Scranton.
“This grant will allow us to improve our service delivery while significantly expanding our reach and impact within the communities we serve,” Brett Smith, director of Lehigh’s Small Business Development Center, said in a statement.
'Boosting' small businesses
In total, the awardees across Pennsylvania got $21.4 million from the state to run service centers.
Those centers aim to “increase access to capital, promote economic empowerment and boost the overall number of Pennsylvania’s historically disadvantaged small businesses,” according to a news release from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
The service centers provide one-on-one business counseling, business accounting assistance, employer responsibility training and contract procurement support, according to the PDCED.
They also help small businesses identify opportunities to take advantage of existing local resources.
Additionally, the centers will hire bilingual staff and offer translation services.
The Pennsylvania CDFI Network — a collection of the state’s community development financial institutions — is another grant awardee that will serve the Lehigh Valley and Berks, Carbon, Monroe and Schuylkill counties.
The Covation Center, a nonprofit organization that provides business coaching and training to small businesses, will serve all 67 counties in the state.
Other universities participating in the Historically Disadvantaged Business Assistance Program are Seton Hill University and Duquesne University.
The remaining six grant awardees are: Chester County Economic Development Council, Greater Erie Economic Development Corporation and Greenline Access Capital.
Also, North Side Industrial Development Company, Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance and Women’s Opportunities Resource Center.
