Montgomery Thrive program reports $2.8M baseline and 116 awards; officials expect funds to be committed by week’s end

Officials giving an update on the Montgomery Thrive small-business program told the commission that the program baseline had grown from an initial $2.5 million to $2.8 million after internal reallocations, allowing the team to serve more businesses.

“The program was originally at 2,500,000, but we were able to reallocate, money from other pots. And we actually wind up having a baseline of 2,800,000 to distribute,” Frank Robinson said, laying out the funding summary. Robinson said the program received 391 applications, processed awards to roughly 116 businesses with an average award near $21,000, and expected to commit the remaining funds by the end of the week.

Why it matters: the program aims to support small businesses across county districts with capital improvements and other grants; county and city representatives worked with Booth Management to manage grant execution and risk-based payment approaches.

What’s next: staff will circulate the program slide deck and will continue processing reimbursements and conditional awards through the reimbursement phase; commissioners thanked staff and Booth Management for the partnership and the work to get grants out to businesses.

Quote: “Here we have a 116, awarded grants. Average was $21,000 here,” Robinson said.