North and South Omaha Small Businesses Awarded Grant Funding

Seven local small businesses were recently awarded $3,000 each in grants by The Community CONNECT – Investing in Small Business 2020 initiative to help alleviate the impact of COVID-19. These businesses include: Lion Construction LLC, Ortiz Construction LLC, Quick Bites Soul Food, Still Poppin Gourmet Popcorn, Tachitos Daycare LLC, Tipico Helado LLC, and White Rhino Productions.

The grants were made possible by a collaboration of Catholic Charities, Omaha Economic Development Corporation, Mutual of Omaha, and CIT Bank for the purpose of supporting entrepreneurs and economic growth in the North and South corridors of the Omaha community.

The 2019 Community CONNECT collaboration featured a start-up pitch competition held in the fall of 2019. When COVID-19 struck earlier this year, plans for the 2020 “shark tank” event were postponed, and a decision made to move to an online, grant competition format in order to continue support of small businesses when they most need it. Catholic Charities and the Omaha Economic Development Corporation have experienced firsthand the devastating impact of COVID–19 on their business clients and graduates as they have sought support and advice on how to keep their businesses afloat during these turbulent times.

To learn more about The Community CONNECT, please contact Kathleen Berg at (402) 829-9233 / Annette Artherton at (402) 871-8365 or visit the Catholic Charities website at ccomaha.org.