Community Futures Alberta and the Alberta government have collaborated to offer a new program to support various business expenses for small and medium-sized businesses owned by women entrepreneurs.
The Alberta government announced a total of $3 million in grant funding to Community Futures Network of Alberta to administer the Alberta Women’s Economic Recovery - Capital Growth Initiative (CGI) program in May 2022; this funding will help support women entrepreneurs access low-interest loans with flexible repayment options for various business expenses such as operating capital, equipment and inventory, and professional fees.
“While this particular program is designed for women, Community Futures Big Country (Drumheller) continues to work with local entrepreneurs who have not been able to access conventional bank financing for their business,” says Community Futures Big Country executive director Alison Roppel.
She shares, during the first funding round, five local women entrepreneurs were advanced a total of $100,000 through the CGI program. Funding received through the CGI program will help these businesses with start-up and expansion costs, and to increase their digital footprint.
“Community Futures Big Country is excited about the opportunity to support five more local businesses to support them as they move forward,” Ms. Roppel tells the Mail.
