Small Businesses Owned by Women – Regardless of Ethnicity – Now Invited to Apply for Comcast RISE Program Aimed at Helping Entrepreneurs Recover from COVID-19 Pandemic

By Adriana Arvizo and Maddie Moore

As of Sunday, Jan. 16, all women-owned businesses within Comcast’s California service area are eligible to apply for the Comcast RISE program.

This major expansion of Comcast RISE furthers efforts to advance digital equity and helps provide underrepresented small business owners with access to the digital tools and funding they need to thrive.

Of the Comcast RISE recipients named in the program’s first year, nearly 70% have been businesses owned by women of color, spurring Comcast to take a deeper look into the unique challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.

According to a study by the National Association of Women Business Owners, 42% of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women, with more than 1,800 new businesses being started every day. This is nearly five times the national average.

However, according to the same study, women-owned businesses are growing at only half the rate of those owned by men, namely because women often face unique challenges when trying to access capital and other resources to help them succeed.

The Comcast RISE expansion to all women-owned businesses recognizes and seeks to help address these persistent inequities women continue to face in accessing the resources and funding that are critical to success.

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“Women can sometimes be left out of conversations around funding and technology. If our business isn’t technology-focused, we can find ourselves left out of finding ways technology can advance our business. But every small business can benefit from a technology upgrade, whether you are in the hair, food or mannequin industry,” said Judi Henderson, a RISE Investment Fund recipient and owner of Mannequin Madness in Oakland. “Comcast recognizes the many challenges women business-owners encounter and the RISE grant is helping put women at the forefront.”

Comcast RISE, which stands for Representation, Investment, Strength, and Empowerment, is part of Project UP, and is accepting applications through June 17. Small businesses owned by people of color and women in California — in Comcast’s footprint — are encouraged to apply for the chance to receive consulting, media, and creative production services from Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, or technology upgrades based on their specific needs from Comcast Business.

Additionally, Comcast California recently unveiled a new RISE Business Directory for laptops and mobile phones, highlighting nearly 300 small, diverse-owned California businesses that have received grants, marketing and technology services from the Comcast RISE program.

For more information and the applications to apply for either the grant program or marketing and technology services, visit www.ComcastRISE.com.

Adriana Arvizo and Maddie Moore are media representatives for Comcast and Fiona Hutton & Associates respectively.

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