Explanation
BACKGROUND: To authorize the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a grant agreement with the Urban Launch School Inc, a non-profit organization, to provide programming to support minority businesses and to allow for payment of expenses incurred prior to the agreement order date.
Urban Launch School Inc is a “Young Business” resource center and support organization, established in 2019 with the goal to become the front door of entrepreneurs of color aspiring to create and build sustainable small businesses. The mission is to close the educational, resource, and digital divide for urban and lifestyle entrepreneurs while eliminating the fragmentation of access to resources.
The Urban Launch School Accelerator is a 12-week program that takes minority-led businesses from ideation to launch phase in response to the 2020 Columbus Small Business Agenda, which found a lack of awareness of available resources for small businesses in Columbus, Ohio. The program’s goal is to ensure that each business has the relationships, tools and confidence in their business models, business plans, funding sources and business ability to grow their vision as well as sustaining growth.
Emergency designation is requested to ensure that the Urban Launch School can maintain the timeline for the development of their online platform and can be reimbursed for the expenses associated with the graduation of their first accelerator cohort in May of 2023.
FISCAL IMPACT: The $350,000.00 funding is available in the 2023 General Fund, Jobs Growth Subfund.
CONTRACT COMPLIANCE: The vendor number for Urban Launch School Inc is 044978 and contract compliance expires on 04/03/2025.
Title
To authorize the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a grant agreement with the Urban Launch School Inc to provide programming to support minority-led businesses in the community; to authorize the appropriation and expenditure of up to $350,000.00 from the 2023 G...
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