MN PROMISE Act Drives Positive Change for Small Businesses

Collectivity, driven by its own values of gratitude, equity and collaboration, exclusively serves organizations with a declared social mission. Equity in the social impact and nonprofit space is reflected in the organization's mission, program design, resource allocation, leadership practices, community engagement, advocacy efforts, evaluation methods, staff training, collaborations, and commitment to transparency and accountability. It is a guiding principle that influences every aspect of a nonprofit's work in its mission to create positive and lasting change in society.

One such client is the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), well known for their work in strengthening neighborhood economies, is putting equity into action by administering the state funded MN PROMISE Act program. The PROMISE Act is focused on distributing $79 million in grants and $22 million in loans to support the growth and repositioning of small Minnesota businesses who have a gross annual revenue of $750,000 or less (based on 2021 tax returns) and are located, or who operate in neighborhoods / communities that have been adversely affected by: 

• Structural racial discrimination

• Civil unrest

• Lack of access to capital

• A loss of population

• An aging population

• A lack of regional economic diversification