Conduit Street Reports AAEDC Awards $460,800 in Digital Services Grants

December 1, 2021

Conduit Street, the official blog of the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo), reported on AAEDC awarding a total of $460,800 in Digital Service grants to 144 businesses in Anne Arundel County in the following blog post:

Anne Arundel Gives $460K+ in Grants to Small Businesses to Increase Online Presence

The post noted that the Digital Services Grant program was launched in September, as part of of the County’s COVID-19 economic recovery strategy, and was funded with $500,000 that Maryland had set aside in American Recovery Act (ARPA) funds.

The initiative sought to help small brick-and-mortar businesses and nonprofits in Anne Arundel County engage with their past and present customers and stakeholders as the economy continues to reopen. The grant also aimed to allow them to reach new audiences and improve their ability to do business in the digital world.

Eligible uses for the $3,200 grant include the new purchase of, or subscription to, digital platforms and services including email and mobile marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), customer rewards/loyalty, e-commerce (online ordering/sales), and website and social media advertising.

Businesses with less than ten employees received 77 percent of the grants awarded. Sixty percent of the grants went to woman-owned businesses, 23 percent went to minority-owned businesses, and eight percent were awarded to veteran-owned businesses.

For more data on this program, including the geographic location of recipients’ businesses and more testimonials, check out the DSG Program report in the AAEDC library.

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