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City of Worcester, MA

Eric D. Batista
City Manager

City of Worcester Launches Grant Program for Minority and Women-Owned Businesses in Construction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9/22/2025 2:20 pm

WORCESTER, Mass. – The City of Worcester Business & Community Development Division announced Monday a new grant program for Worcester-based businesses.

The M/WBE Construction Advancement Program aims to support Certified Minority and Women-Owned Worcester-based businesses in construction or construction-related sectors with operational expenses to give them greater capacity for contracting opportunities. This program is funded by settlement funds received through the Attorney General’s False Claims Division.

“This exciting program builds on the municipality’s existing efforts to support the certification of Minority and Women-Owned Businesses,” City Manager Eric D. Batista said. “It also aligns with the goals we set out in the Worcester Now | Next long-range plan to enable and support diverse neighborhood scale commerce in order to contribute to community wealth-building, neighborhood stabilization, and quality of life along neighborhood commercial corridors. Investing in these businesses will mean investing in our neighborhoods.”

Eligibility Criteria for Businesses: 

  • Certified by the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) or recognized third-party certifying agencies,
  • Active for-profit located within the City of Worcester,
  • In the construction sector or construction-related sectors, and,
  • In good standing with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and City of Worcester.

If a business is selected, it is required to provide grant reporting with supporting documentation detailing how grant funds were used. 

Funding Level: Each eligible business can receive $10,000 - $25,000 in grant funding from this program dependent on evaluation criteria. Grant funding requests will be capped at 25% of business yearly expenses, up to $25,000.

Submission: As of Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, applications are now being accepted. Applications can be found at MWBE Construction Advancement Grant | City of Worcester.

The application form is available as a fillable PDF and can be submitted via email to development@worcesterma.gov.

Deadline: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until program funds are exhausted. 

Questions: Send questions via email to development@worcesterma.gov.