| The Aurora Chamber of Commerce will award five small business grants this year. Applicants must be members of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce in good standing prior to submitting an application.
The Rise Up and Scale Up Grants will provide $2,500 each to four Chamber member businesses seeking to build or scale their operations.The Media Grant will provide $5,000 in professional services from Addison Marketing Solutions to support customer-facing media initiatives, including website development, social media, and related marketing activities. RiseUp Grant for small businesses (Value of $2500)
- Revenue: The business must be revenue generating under $50K
- Business size: The business may or may not have any employees
- Business type: The business must be a for-profit business and a member in good standing of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce
- Business stage: The business must be in the start-up stage and in operation for less than 2 years
- Business purpose: The business must have a clear mission and purpose
- Financial need: The business must demonstrate a clear need for funding and how the grant funds will be used.
- Impact: The business must demonstrate how the grant funds will have a positive impact on the business and the broader community
- Two (2) grants will be awarded in 2026
ScaleUp Grant for small businesses (Value of $2500)
- Revenue: The business must be revenue generating between $51K and $200K
- Business size: The business should have at least 1 employee or contract employee equivalent
- Business type: The business must be a for-profit business and a member in good standing of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce
- Business stage: The business must be in operation for at least 2+ years
- Business purpose: The business must have a clear mission and purpose
- Financial need: The business must demonstrate a clear need for funding and how the grant funds will be used.
- Impact: The business must demonstrate how the grant funds will have a positive impact on the business and the broader community
- Two (2) grants will be awarded in 2026
Media Grant for small businesses (Sponsored by Addison Marketing Solutions - value of $5000 to be used toward services provided by Addison Marketing Solutions)
- Revenue: The business must be revenue generating up to $200K.
- Business size: The business may or may not have any employees
- Business type: The business must be a for-profit business and a member in good standing of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce
- Business stage: The business must be in operation for 1+ years
- Business purpose: The business must have a clear mission and purpose
- Financial need: The business must demonstrate a clear need for the types of marketing services being offered by Addison Marketing Solutions.
- Impact: The business must demonstrate how the marketing services will have a positive impact on the business
- One (1) grant will be awarded in 2026
The grant application process is now open and will close on August 28, 2026. Businesses can apply by completing the following application form. All applications will be reviewed, finalists will be interviewed and the recipients will be chosen.
Key dates are as follows:
- Applications Intake: Open until August 28, 2026
- Application Review: September 1 - 11, 2026
- Finalist Interviews: September 21-25, 2026
- Notification to recipients: On or before October 1, 2026
- Presentation: Business Excellence Celebration, October 22, 2026
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