Chase Offers Small Businesses a Chance at $250,000 and a Trip to Google Winners of the Mission Main Street Grants program will each receive a $250,000 grant and a two-day trip to Google's headquarters for a small-business marketing workshop.
By Catherine Clifford •
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Money can't fix everything, but if you're a small-business owner, an extra $250,000 can't hurt.
Chase launched a contest today that offers a dozen small businesses the chance at a $250,000 grant, a new Chromebook Pixel laptop and two days of marketing and business development help from the experts at Google, according to a blog post written by Jon Kaplan, Google's vice president of U.S. sales and operations. Google is the lead sponsor on the contest.
The program, called Mission Main Street Grants, is open to businesses that have been open for at least two years and have less than 100 full-time, year-round employees. Applications are due by the end of the October at which point applicants will have until November 15 to gather 250 digital Facebook "votes" to be entered into the competition.
From there, a panel of small-business experts, including executives from Chase and Google in addition to representatives from business organizations such as the U.S. Chamber and the National Federation of Independent Business, will select the 12 winners. The final grants will be announced in January of 2014.
To apply, a business owner has to compose five essays, answering questions like, "What inspired you to get started?", "How is your business involved with the community?" and "What would you do with $250,000?" The grants are not available to nonprofits.
