Marketing Momentum Small Business Grants
We get it! Starting and growing a small, local business is HARD WORK. For many, it can feel like a lonely and daunting path, riddled with unknowns. Lowcountry Local First is here to ensure that our region is hospitable and encouraging to all people looking to fulfill the dream of business ownership. We delight in building relationships that matter, and one way we can do so is by connecting those in need of a little marketing momentum with generous experts in the community who are ready to help. The Marketing Momentum Small Business Grant Program is an in-kind offering through LLF that connects and facilitates 3-5 in-kind marketing projects for qualified local businesses each year. Top candidates display ways their business does - or will - use their business as a force for good in the community.
Check back in December 2025 for news of when the 2026 grant application will launch.
2025 Grant Recipients include:
- Cassandra Sparks, LLC
- Dulsorpresa
- Liminal Wellness Company
- Summit Grounds
- Wanderland Mobile Grocery
Grant Program Partners:
These grant opportunities are only made possible by the generosity of these Locals. Interested in becoming a grant program partner? Reach out to Jordan!
2025 Grants provided by:
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2025 Grant Timeline
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The 2025 application window was Jan 2 - 31, 2025 and is now closed.
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Grant recipients were notified by February 25, 2025.
- Recipients and project partners were recognized at 12th annual Good Business Summit, March 6, 2025 at Charleston Music Hall.
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Selected projects began in March and should be completed by May 30, 2025.
Grant Eligibility Criteria
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The applicant must be the owner of the business and be 18 years of age or older.
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The applicant must be eligible for Lowcountry Local First membership:
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The business is privately held and not publicly traded.
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The business is based locally and has no corporate or national headquarters outside the Lowcountry.
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The business owners who have a controlling interest of more than 50% live in the Lowcountry.
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The business can make independent decisions regarding the name and look of the business, business purchasing, practices and distribution, as well as pays all its own marketing, rent, and other business expenses.
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The applicant has been in business and making sales for two or less years or is preparing to launch in the next 6 months.
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The applicant’s business employs less than 5 full time employees.
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The applicant’s business must be a for profit business. 501(c)(3) entities and 501(c)(6) entities are not eligible for this grant.
Grant opportunities are limited but all who apply received invitations to informative workshops, access to additional resources, and will be notified of future grant opportunities.
Applications are evaluated and considered by an outside review committee based on the following criteria:
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Applicant meets the criteria as outlined above
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Applicant’s clarity of potential project impact on their business’s growth and success
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Strength of business mission and/or community give-back
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Availability of project support by grant program partners
2023 Grant Recipients Included:
- Brighter Outlook Vision
- The Broken Leash
- Peculiar Pig Farm
- Selfie Addict Studio
- Shoreline Restoration Group
TESTIMONIALS:
"This was an amazing opportunity and will really propel our business. We now have a plan and vision which we did not have before. We have a path to target the customers we want and also a plan on how to keep them."
-Zach, 2023 Grant Recipient
"We are incredibly grateful for this experience! Our partner has such a wealth of knowledge and knows the key players in the area, which we do not. We could never have afforded this and are so happy to have help. I hope one day we can pay it forward!"
- Abbigail, 2023 Grant Recipient