$1.5 Million in New Grants Will Support LGBTQ+-Owned and Allied Restaurants
Tennessee Pride Chamber & National LGBT Chamber of Commerce Team Up with Grubhub for Another Year of Grants to Aid in Growth and Development
Nashville, TN -- Tennessee’s LGBTQ+-owned restaurants and bars serving food will once again find a vital lifeline this year stemming from the ongoing partnership formed by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), the business voice of the LGBTQ+ community and certifying body for LGBTQ+-owned businesses nationwide, Grubhub, a leading U.S. food-ordering and delivery marketplace and the Tennessee Pride Chamber, a leading business voice for the Tennessee LGBTQ+ community.
Today the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce opened applications for the NGLCC Community Impact Grant Program, a program made possible by a grant from the Grubhub Community Fund. The grants are expected to range from $10,000 to $25,000 and funds can be used for things like updating security and security protocols, updating/purchasing new equipment, community involvement, marketing, and PR services, updating digital/e-commerce presence, purchasing product, staff training programs, employee pay and/or staff incentivized wages, COVID-19 recovery, and maintenance/updating of current infrastructure.
“We often say at NGLCC that if you can buy it, an LGBTQ+-owned business can supply it,” said NGLCC Co-Founder & President Justin Nelson. “That is especially true of the LGBTQ+-owned restaurants and establishments across America who kept our communities and first responders fed throughout the pandemic and have been so active in the recovery. We’re proud to again partner with Grubhub, with the support from the Grubhub Community Fund, in offering grants to support businesses throughout the nation this round with an even wider scope of opportunities for grant utilization to help them succeed.”
“NGLCC has been an incredible partner to Grubhub, and it was a no-brainer to renew this program which has supported so many LGBTQ+-owned businesses across the country,” said Dave Tovar, Grubhub’s senior vice president of Communications and Government Relations. “We’ve heard so many stories of how independent restaurants have used these grants to do amazing things for their business and in their communities, and I’m excited to see what new and exciting things come out of the next group of grant recipients.”
“In 2022, Grubhub, NGLCC and the Tennessee Pride Chamber awarded over $60,000 in grants to Nashville area bars and restaurants. Those grants made a real difference to business owners recovering from shutdowns and dealing with rising costs,” said Brian Rosman, President of the Tennessee Pride Chamber. “This year, we want LGBTQ+ owned and allied bars and restaurants from all over the state to apply. The grants can be used to invest in their businesses, buy new equipment, add new technology, create new opportunities, pay their staff, improve environmental sustainability, expand their marketing efforts or almost anything that will help their business.”
Once again, under the innovative grant program, the NGLCC has set a goal to allocate 30 percent of the funds to businesses owned by people of color and transgender and gender expansive (TGX) individuals. Between now and March 2023, NGLCC will roll the grant program out regionally, with applications for East Coast establishments launching on January 24, 2023 through February 14, 2023. Applications for the Central US will open in February 2023, and those for the West Coast will roll out in March 2023. Restaurants wishing to learn more about applying for grants should visit nglcc.org/ghgrant.
The NGLCC’s network of more than fifty Affiliate Chambers across America will once again help amplify this grant opportunity to support local restaurants. Those local chambers will again benefit from this initiative’s Affiliate Chamber Fund. In addition to supporting local efforts to share the grant opportunity, this fund has and will continue to enable any establishment that receives a grant that is not currently a member of an NGLCC local affiliate chamber to have one year of membership paid.
For more information on the Community Impact Grant Program regarding restaurant eligibility requirements, timelines, how to apply, and more, please visit www.nglcc.org/ghgrant. To learn more about the Tennessee Pride Chamber follow us at @tnpridechamber on social media. Join the Tennessee Pride Chamber today at tnpridechamber.com.