WBDC to Accept Applications for Two Grant Programs Starting TODAY!

Both the Ignite Grant Program for women-owned businesses and the Child Care Business Opportunity Fund for child care providers are seeking applicants from across Connecticut.

Jeannette Lopez and Mayor Cantor (West Hartford), Deeply Rooted Salon

January 30, 2025 | STAMFORD, Conn. — Two grant programs offered by the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) will be accepting applications for two of its grant programs — The Ignite Grant Program and the Child Care Business Opportunity Fund — both beginning Feb. 3.

Ignite applications will be accepted from February 3 through March 10. Applications for the grants offered through the Child Care Business Opportunity Fund will be accepted from February 3 through March 3. In anticipation of the opening of the latest round of grant applications, WBDC recently embarked on a road show that visited grant recipients from each program in every part of Connecticut.

“We are thrilled to continue these two remarkable grant programs for another round,” said WBDC Founder and CEO Fran Pastore. “These grants have an incredible impact on Connecticut's small business community. The data shows they are helping hundreds of businesses grow, creating and maintaining jobs while driving significant contributions to our state’s economy. We’re proud to support the success of these dynamic businesses.”

Ignite Grant Program

Kendall Aguilar and PVP Staff, Jonathan Mullen, Economic Director (Waterford) and WBDC staff, Positive Vibes Pilates

The Ignite Grant Program, launched in 2020 as the Equity Match Grant Program, awards grants of between $2,500 and $10,000 for clearly defined projects that will have a measurable impact on the business, its growth, and profitability. Since its launch, the program has given a boost to 364 women-owned businesses in Connecticut, totaling $3,365,882 million. In the last round alone, 37 Ignite grants were awarded, totaling more than $342,000 in funding.

Recent Ignite recipient Beth Iovinelli, owner of Milk Street Lactation, said of the grant’s impact on her lactation and wellness support center in Norwalk, “This grant allows us to have alternate streams of revenue and increase our revenue. It will allow me to focus on continuing to grow the business.”

Child Care Business Opportunity Fund

The WBDC Child Care Business Support Program is designed to support, sustain, and grow child care businesses in Connecticut. The program’s Child Care Business Opportunity Fund provides grants of up to $25,000 to qualified licensed and aspiring child care businesses in Connecticut. Since the program launched in 2020, more than $7.5 million has been awarded to child care businesses in every corner of Connecticut, including $1,685,767 in funding to 155 child care businesses in the latest round. Donna Rissolo, owner of Essex Preschool and recent grant recipient, has this advice for other child care business owners who are considering applying for a grant: “Do it. It’s worth the effort. Even if you don’t receive a grant, there’s something to be gained by going through the steps of the application process. It teaches you a lot about business development.”

The WBDC Child Care Business Support and Opportunity Fund programs are made possible through a groundbreaking partnership between WBDC and the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC).

About the Women’s Business Development Council

The Women’s Business Development Council’s (WBDC) mission is to support economic prosperity for women and strengthen communities through entrepreneurial and financial education services that create and grow sustainable jobs and businesses across Connecticut. WBDC educates, motivates, and empowers women to achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency. Since 1997, WBDC has educated and trained nearly 20,000 clients in all of Connecticut’s 169 towns—helping women to launch, sustain, and scale over 14,700 businesses, create and maintain more than 33,800 jobs in Connecticut, and access $63.7 million in capital. Since 2020, WBDC has provided more than $11 million in grants to help fuel growth in small businesses throughout Connecticut. Visit ctwbdc.org for more information.

Media Contact: JoAnn Gulbin
Director of Marketing & Communications, WBDC
203-353-1750 | jgulbin@ctwbdc.org