Grants Available to Black-Owned Businesses in Seven Cities, Including Pasadena

Siemens USA announced on Monday it will provide a total of $140,000 in grants to Black-owned businesses to support diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship and business development. 

The grants will be awarded to Black-owned businesses in Pasadena, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Orlando.

Businesses must be a member of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to qualify. Local small businesses can reach out to the Pasadena MBDA locations at: https://www.mbda.gov/business-center/pasadena-mbda-business-center

The MBDA Centers will nominate up to five businesses for the grants in each city based on their financial challenges and alignment with Siemens’ supply chain needs, and all candidates will be entered into Siemens’ supplier database. 

Grants in the amount of $20,000 will be awarded to each of the seven winners in late February. The seven cities were chosen based on Siemens footprint and supplier partner needs.

“To build resilient supply chains, and to expand our own business opportunities, we need a marketplace that’s diverse and inclusive,” said Nichelle Grant, head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Siemens USA in a prepared statement. “These grants are intended to help Black-owned companies develop their businesses to be in the best position to compete for contracts and become part of supplier bases like ours.”

The minority business community — and Black-owned businesses in particular — have experienced numerous hardships during this time of the pandemic, social unrest and economic downturn. The Siemens grants demonstrate the company’s support of minority businesses and mission to advance supplier diversity. 

“For many years, Siemens Supply Chain Management has strategically sourced from diverse businesses to benefit from the innovation and creativity these suppliers have to offer.  Any resilient and successful supply chain needs to invest in cultural diversity as part of its vision,” said Patric Stadtfeld, head of Supply Chain Management for the Americas, Siemens USA. 

“We’re proud to continue supporting and growing our supplier base of more than 6,000 small and diverse businesses,” Stadtfeld said.