A Jackson County entrepreneurial initiatives was one of 28 organizations sharing in $925,107 in grant awards by Indiana’s Commerce Office awarded $925,107 in grant awards.
SPARK Shop Connections an initiative of the Jackson County Chamber received a $40,000 award to help fuel projects focused on entrepreneurial education, connection and acceleration across Indiana.
SPARK Jackson County will foster community by hosting recurring events centered around small businesses in Jackson County. Once the SPARK Shop co-working studio opens in Seymour, Community Collaboration Funds will be used to engage and attract entrepreneurs and innovators to the space in southeast Indiana.
CCF provides matching grants to support new community collaborations, services and programming that will serve Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with a focus on education, connection and acceleration.
After receiving a large number of applications, the state’s Commerce Office selected 28 projects for matching grants based on their potential to fill critical gaps across the entrepreneurial ecosystem, support underserved markets and collaborate across boundaries. The projects selected will result in a variety of new programs and resources for aspiring entrepreneurs and current small business owners, such as AI education, business planning, financial literacy, online visibility and prototyping design, for businesses across a variety of industries such as the creative economy, childcare, food and beverage, defense and in rural communities.