Press Release  Healey-Driscoll Administration Celebrates $2.5 Million in Grants to Improve Economic Opportunity Through Community One Stop for Growth

Lawrence — The Healey-Driscoll Administration joined state and local officials in Lawrence last week to celebrate awards through the state’s Community One Stop for Growth, including 28 grants totaling $2.5 million through the Urban Agenda Grant Program.   

In October, the Administration announced $164 million for 338 grant awards through the One Stop to support local economic development projects in 161 communities across the state. 

“Our administration is committed to ensuring that everyone in our state has a chance to be on the playing field when it comes to economic success,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We are proud to make these Urban Agenda Grant Program investments in initiatives such as job training, small business support, and mentorship for entrepreneurs that spur local and regional economic development and improve economic opportunity for our residents.” 

“The Community One Stop for Growth emphasizes local partnership and homegrown economic development solutions,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “These Urban Agenda grants will allow our administration to partner with local leaders and community organizations on the ground to tackle challenges around workforce training and small businesses development and lay the groundwork for vibrant cities and towns.” 

“The Urban Agenda Grant Program provides the space, capital, and technical assistance necessary to help spur local economic prosperity across the state,” said Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao. “We’re excited to invest in innovative projects that improve the lives of Massachusetts residents and help them reach their potential, and connect job-seekers and entrepreneurs to new opportunities and resources that will allow them to thrive.”  

The Urban Agenda program promotes economic vitality and cultivating stronger neighborhoods across Massachusetts. Urban Agenda program grants are competitive one-year grants that offer flexible grant funding for local partnerships to implement programming and projects that are based on creative collaborative work models with the goal of communities achieving economic progress.  

"Thank you to the Executive Office on Economic Development for coming to Lawrence to celebrate their Urban Agenda program awards," said Senator Pavel Payano (D-Lawrence). "Gateway Cities and urban communities across the state deserve targeted investment into organizations and programs designed to support their local economies. This administration is committed to this vision, and I'm extremely excited that our own Lawrence CommunityWorks will be receiving funding as a part of this program." 

Urban Agenda Awards 

Advocates Inc., Framingham - $95,000  
MetroWest Care Connection will engage in community organizing to convene a Housing Coalition to create a roadmap/toolkit of housing resources and train leaders/experts in local agencies to help people navigate the housing system and develop a community listening process to identify gaps and strategic priorities.  

Blackshires Community Empowerment Foundation, Pittsfield - $100,000  
Blackshires Leadership Program Accelerator is a curated and cohort-based leadership program for Black Community members in the Berkshire Region to prepare them for community-based leadership and advocacy to serve as a training and education pipeline to municipal and local service on planning boards, committees, advisory boards, and more.  

CENTRO, Southbridge - $100,000 
Centro’s “Re-Building Futures” works to address structural barriers that affect economically disenfranchised individuals, by providing economic and financial empowerment training, job readiness, employment skills building and on-the-job-training through wood-working, cabinet rebuilding and furniture refinishing business offerings.  
 
Collaborative for Educational Services, Northampton - $100,000  
The Food Policy Leaders program will build the capacity of 25 residents who are Black, Latino, foreign-born, and/or experiencing financial hardship, so they can advance civic and economic solutions to food insecurity. All will receive stipends, participate in training sessions, and design projects that will increase employability, civic, and leadership skills that will impact the local food economy.  

Community Action Inc., Haverhill - $75,000   
Community Action Inc. will be hosting immigrant-focused job and career fairs aiming to provide bilingual, local, neighborhood access to employment and career development services that benefits both potential employees/students as well as employers and higher education institutions.  

Community Music Center of Boston, Boston - $80,000  
The Youth Arts Employment and Workforce Development program will utilize funds on direct wages for youth who hold artistic and administrative leadership roles at the Community Music Center of Boston, under the mentorship of senior staff and a dedicated Youth Development Manager. Participants will supplement artistic study with workforce development and paid employment that supports college and career readiness.  

Community Teamwork Inc., Lowell - $100,000  
Community Teamwork Inc. and its partners will implement a Specialized Technical Assistance Teams program: a coaching and TA program utilizing inhouse coaches, and a wrap-around, team-based strategy for each client operating with a common set of high-quality advisors working on the essential functions of business, focused on minority- and women-owned small business.  

Economic Development Council of Western MA, Springfield - $75,000  
Springfield WORKS will expand the Two-Generation/Whole Family Approach to Career Pathways model to the Springfield Public School (SPS) system. Parents/caregivers of students who attend SPS and recent SPS graduates will obtain skills for career directed positions at SPS with a priority focus on para-educators, identified as a top labor supply challenge in the region.

English for New Bostonians, Boston - $100,000  
English for New Bostonians and community partners will develop and deliver three English for Immigrant Entrepreneurs programs run by high-performing ESOL providers. Classes will serve 30-36 business owners, employees and aspiring entrepreneurs who will: gain English + tech skills to grow businesses offering household-sustaining wages, create jobs, bolster business districts.  

Entrepreneurship for All - Cape Cod, Provincetown - $100,000   
EforAll Cape Cod’s program, The Provincetown: Launching Creative Economy Business, is an incubator business accelerator. The partnership aims to launch 25 new businesses, provide them access to office space and internet, engage local creatives to learn business skills and monetize their art through workshops, and participate in an artists' business plan competition and a “Makers” art sale.  

Family Service Organization of Worcester Inc., Worcester - $95,000  
The Project Flourish Child Development Apprenticeship trains early childhood workers recently hired in group childcare programs that serve low-income families. The program provides entry-level and under-skilled workers, earning at or near minimum wage, with the opportunity to secure employment and/or advancement in the field of early education and care.  

Franklin County Community Development Corporation, Greenfield - $80,000   
The Route 2 Rural Innovation Corridor (R2IC) aims to positively impact profits, people and places across Route 2 from the North Quabbin Region to North Adams. The R2IC works at the systems and community level to advance outcomes in three interconnected areas: K-14 education and career pathways, innovation and entrepreneurship, community and economic development.  

La Colaborativa, Chelsea - $100,000  
The Green Jobs Pipeline will create opportunities by and for members of the Good Jobs Coalition (GJC) to access economic stability and mobility through a good jobs pipeline. GJC will focus on opening new doors to good jobs through strategic planning and development of a green jobs pipeline and increasing shared capacity to hire and train workers with limited English proficiency.   

Latin American Business Organization Inc., Worcester - $50,000  
The Launch, Grow & Thrive program is a comprehensive bilingual training initiative conducted in both Portuguese and Spanish that aims to develop the next generation of successful entrepreneurs, with a particular emphasis on addressing socio-cultural and economic challenges faced by Black, Latino, immigrant, and returning citizen communities.  

Lawrence CommunityWorks, Lawrence - $100,000  
The Community Educator Pipeline (CEP) program is a workforce development initiative that both creates career pathways for low-income Lawrence parents and other community members and diversifies the educator workforce in the public schools. It is a component of the Lawrence Working Families Initiative, a cross-sector collaborative and two-generation approach to student success through family economic progress, supporting parents with education, training, and job placement/ advancement.   

City of Lynn - $100,000   
Lynn Partnership 2024 will provide sustained critical assistance to small business owners and entrepreneurs, mainly Latinx and minority-based, free of charge, to strengthen the micro and small business sector of Lynn and the surrounding areas. This aims to increase Lynn's resilience and diversity and provide much needed tools to build and grow successful businesses.  

Main South CDC, Worcester - $50,000  
The Main South Minority Business Economic Empowerment project aims to drive the community's economic revitalization efforts within Main South's TDI District. Main South CDC will support and facilitate the establishment of an engaged and politically influential BIPOC business association, that is able to provide tangible economic benefits, including real estate ownership, for its members and collaborate with other neighborhood stakeholders to achieve common goals.  

Maverick Landing Community Services, Boston - $80,000  
The Youth Workforce Development Program, a collaborative effort between Maverick Landing Community Services and the Veronica Robles Cultural Center, strives to provide East Boston's youth with necessary tools to overcome systemic barriers and achieve economic success, all while nurturing leadership, creativity, and cultural unity.  

New North Citizens' Council Inc., Springfield - $75,000   
The Nueva Visión Nuevo Trabajo program uses the Individualized Placement Support (IPS) model for workforce development to support Springfield’s Latino community. Through this model, participants will receive help to find and keep a regular paid job in the competitive labor market while also supporting the local businesses that hire program participants.  

North Shore Community Development Coalition, Salem - $75,000  
The 2024 El Punto Small Business Engagement program includes one on one technical assistance, online workshops, digital literacy training, access to a physical retail space and start-up support for low-income, immigrant small business owners, online businesses, and entrepreneurs. In addition, they will host numerous special events throughout the year to draw attention to future events.  

Roca Inc., Chelsea - $100,000  
Through the Community Employment Readiness Project, Roca will use trauma-informed workforce development services to connect 60 young women and their estimated 75 children to economic opportunities in the communities of Chelsea, Lynn and Revere. Services include case management, Cognitive Behavioral Theory skills, transitional employment, and job placement.  

Stone Soup Café Inc., Greenfield - $100,000  
The Stone Soup Culinary Institute (SSCI) provides hands-on training and practice in the fundamentals of cooking and other culinary skills for socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals who are seeking food industry careers. Students gain work experience, ServSafe certifications, and job referrals. SSCI will provide a unique workforce training program, and program participants will receive a stipend, increasing equity and access to education and job skills.  

The Cordial Eye Gallery and Artist Space Inc., Barnstable - $80,000  
Creative Futures Cape Cod is a paid fellowship for adults in Hyannis and its surrounding communities, that have faced systemic barriers to careers in the creative economy. The program includes one on one mentorship, cohort-based learning, and free studio space for each Artist Fellow.  
 
The Neighborhood Developers, Revere - $100,000  
The Neighborhood Developers will create equitable job opportunities for Revere’s immigrant and low-income communities by collaboratively delivering a continuum of workforce development services to prepare participants for jobs at participating employers within their coalition. 

The Tech Foundry Inc., Springfield - $100,000   
The Digital Equity Tech Hub is a collaborative service-learning project. Tech Foundry students and alumni will provide free IT services and digital literacy training as paid digital fellows. The Hub will be inclusive, accessible and provide free Wi-Fi.  

Town of Middleborough - $100,000   
The Exploratory Year Program will fund hands-on education, training, and workforce development for high school graduates. The program aims to support local businesses by connecting successful YouthWorks interns to community businesses for mentorship and mini-apprenticeships  

Urban Impact Initiative Massachusetts, Springfield - $90,000  
Urban Impact Re-Entry Services will provide work readiness and employment placement services to returning women citizens with a focus on Black and other culturally diverse women of color. The program will be facilitated by an identity reflective staff with both lived and professional experience to administer culturally conscious services to maximize the outcome of job placements within industries that provide prevailing wage and career advancement.   

Wellspring House, Gloucester - $100,000  
Wellspring House and its partners will test critical strategies to address serious financial vulnerability experienced by low-to-moderate income trainees. Wellspring will use resources to cover out-of-pocket training expenses for candidates and test methods to offer compensation during the Spring 2024 training sessions.  

About the Community One Stop for Growth  
The Community One Stop for Growth is an annual program overseen by the Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) that provides a streamlined process for cities and towns to apply for 13 state grant programs administered by EOED, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and the quasi-public agency MassDevelopment. Programs in the One Stop fund economic development projects related to community capacity building, planning and zoning, site preparation, building construction, infrastructure, and housing development. To learn more about the One Stop, visit www.mass.gov/guides/community-one-stop-for-growth.     

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