Business Resources

City Programs

Through integration with the Mayor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion (OEOI), Greater Ashmont Main Streets is the gateway to many valuable City of Boston programs for small businesses.

For more information on accessing any of these resources, contact the GAMS Executive Director, Elle Marrone.

  • ReStore Boston helps neighborhood business and property owners with storefront improvements. ReStore Boston has provided professional design services to over 300 businesses and completed 80 storefront improvement projects.

  • Boston Buying Power allows small businesses to benefit from competitive electricity and natural gas rates negotiated by an outside broker on behalf of the purchasing group.

  • Renew Boston provides Boston businesses with technical assistance and financial incentives through energy efficiency upgrades and solar energy installations.  Its energy efficiency incentives will pay for up to 70% of the total cost of retrofitting lighting and mechanical systems.

  • On-Site Business Assistance - Private sector experts, such as those at Main Street Partners, can help businesses improve their financial management; improve the customer experience and increase customer loyalty; better use their space; develop and implement a growth strategy; better manage inventory; improve employee management; choose the right technology to improve business operations; identify and apply for financing options; and develop a marketing strategy.  All of these services are coordinated for the Main Street district business by Greater Ashmont MS and staff at Boston Main Streets and are provided at no cost to the business owner.

  • Zoning and Permitting Support Experienced staff at the Department of Neighborhood Development are available to assist businesses with obtaining the necessary licensing and permits to open or expand their businesses.

  • Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (CSNDC) is committed to promoting a dynamic economic landscape in Codman Square and South Dorchester, where entrepreneurs can launch, stabilize and grow businesses and be resilient to forces of neighborhood change. CSNDC’s DotBiz initiative offers small business workshops for entrepreneurs getting started and looking to learn the basics, as well as one-on-one technical assistance for more established small businesses. You can contact CSDNC through their website or email lynn@csndc.com for more information.

  • The Neighborhood Restaurant Initiative is an effort to to support the revitalization of the city’s commercial districts. The initiative provides a menu of resources ranging from business instruction to assistance with licensing and permitting, to marketing and design, and also includes a financing option.

  • Partners with Nonprofits provides matching grants up to $25,000 to help nonprofit organizations enhance the infrastructure of facilities that serve the immediate community. Awards are made annually based upon a competitive Request-for-Proposal process.

  • The Boston Loan Development Corporation provides loans of up to $250,000 for businesses in, or relocating to, the City of Boston. These loans can be used when buying a new business property, purchasing equipment and machinery, constructing an addition to an existing plant, making leasehold improvements or providing working capital to grow your business.

  • Women Entrepreneurs Boston (WE BOS) advances Boston’s women entrepreneurs by providing the skills, technical assistance and network they need to launch and grow their business.

  • Boston Local Development Corporation works to increase employment opportunities for Boston residents by providing small business loans with a focus on commercial, industrial and service companies.

  • Boston SCORE provides free counseling and mentoring to those who wish to start or build existing businesses and conducts free and low cost workshops on a variety of topics ranging from the business basics of marketing, finance and management to social media marketing.

  • Lynda.com through the Boston Public Library provides video courses in business, software, technology, and creative skills, taught by recognized industry experts.

Local Resources

  • Accion is a learning center for everything about starting and running your business.

  • Bay Colony Development Corp. is a Certified Development Company (CDC) whose purpose is to stimulate economic development through the creation and preservation of jobs by providing healthy companies with fixed asset financing at affordable rates and reasonable terms. Bay Colony has funded quality loans in excess of $600 million to well over 1200 growing businesses throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont representing nearly $1.7 billion dollars in total project financing.

  • BDC Capital Financial Solutions has been recognized locally and nationally as a leader and innovator in business lending and capital investment. Many of New England’s leading financial institutions invest in BDC to help promising companies expand. Over 60 years, we have invested more than $1 billion in thousands of companies in New England. Whether your need is $500,000 or $5 million, BDC Capital offers a wide range of financing solutions.

  • Boston Local Development Corporation works to increase employment opportunities for Boston residents by providing small business loans with a focus on commercial, industrial and service companies.

  • Boston Industrial Development Financing Authority promotes economic growth and employment in the City of Boston by issuing bonds that finance the capital needs of the city’s businesses and institutions. It is guided by Boston residents with professional expertise in real estate development and finance.

  • Boston’s Back Streets program retains and grows Boston’s viable industrial and commercial businesses and their diverse job base through the strategic use of land, workforce, and financial resources. Back Streets supports industrial businesses in four main areas: real estate, workforce, business assistance, resources, and partnerships.

  • City of Boston Supplier Portal is an online process for purchasing, bidding, contracting, vendor registration and payment.  Bidders and vendors can register for login credentials to the Supplier Portal to participate in these online procurement activities. Register as a source bidder, Vendor registration form

  • The Carrot Project works at the forefront of change by helping to create a sustainable local farm and food economy. Our work facilitates access to financing and business support so that today’s small farm and food businesses can grow into thriving, enduring enterprises.

  • Center For Women & Enterprise is a nationally known nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people start and grow their businesses. CWE has worked with more than 30,200 Massachusetts and Rhode Island entrepreneurs since 1995.

  • Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation was founded in 1979 by local civic associations to address the problems of economic disinvestment, unemployment, crime, community tensions and the shortage of quality affordable housing undermining Boston’s Dorchester neighborhoods.

  • FranNet provides education and support to individuals who are interested in exploring self-employment as a career option through franchised business ownership.

  • Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council expands business opportunities for Minority Business Enterprises  and creates mutually beneficial links between Corporate Companies and Minority Business Enterprises. The ultimate outcome is to add economic value to the supply chain while increasing economic opportunities for the minority business community.

  • Granite State Development Corporation (“GSDC”) is a non-profit lender authorized to process and service Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans utilizing the 504 lending program.  We are the most active certified development company (CDC) in New England and provide financing in the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

  • Interise stimulates economic revitalization in lower income communities. We provide a diverse group of small business owners with entrepreneurial education, new networks, and access to markets. Our community creates jobs, grows businesses, and develops community leaders.

  • Lawyer’s Committee for Economic Justice and Civil Rights is a private, non-profit, non-partisan legal organization that provides pro bono legal representation to victims of discrimination based on race or national origin. Our mission is to provide a safeguard for the civil, social, and economic liberties of residents in Greater Boston and throughout Massachusetts. We handle major law reform cases as well as legal actions on behalf of individuals. We also engage in public policy advocacy, community legal education, community economic development, and other legal services that further the cause of civil rights.

  • Leader Bank is a community bank headquartered in Arlington, Massachusetts and offers its customers innovative personal and business banking solutions.

  • Mass Growth Capital Corporation creates and preserves jobs at small businesses, women and minority-owned businesses, and promotes economic development in underserved, gateway municipalities and low and moderate income communities

Regional Resources

  • Next Street is a trusted advisor to some of the most dynamic organizations in the country’s most complex markets, establishing relationships that deliver significant and measurable results for our clients.

State & Federal Resources

  • MassBizWorks helps improve a variety of services for businesses using both state and federal resources.

  • Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) works throughout the Nation to link minority-owned businesses with the capital, contracts, and markets they need to grow. We advocate and promote minority-owned business with elected officials, policymakers, and business leaders. Serving as subject matter experts and advocates for the minority business community, we conduct high-quality research and cultivate domestic and international relationships.

  • Massachusetts Office of Business Development is the state’s one-stop source for businesses seeking to relocate to Massachusetts and businesses wishing to expand their current operations here.  We offer a range of expertise and services to help your business flourish in Massachusetts. Our staff operates in regions across the state, so we are able to provide you with on-the-ground knowledge and viable connections for your business.  We work closely with the private and public sectors to coordinate a whole range of resources at your disposal.

  • The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network’s Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center provides free business advisory services and free workshops to Massachusetts businesses to help achieve these goals, Business growth and success, Financing and loan assistance, Strategic, marketing, and operational analysis

    • Operational Services Division manages a number of programs such as the Supplier Diversity Office. Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) now certifying Veteran-Owned Businesses (VBE) for inclusion in the Supplier Diversity Program (SDP), which will reduce certification wait time for veteran businesses. Use the following links to access the:

    • The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is “to maintain and strengthen the nation’s economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters”. The agency’s activities are summarized as the “3 Cs” of capital, contracts, and counseling

    • SCORE Boston has over forty members, both retired and working, with significant experience in the ownership, operation, and/or management of both small and large businesses in many fields. Members offer free counseling and mentoring to those who wish to start or build existing businesses in the Boston area. We counsel at our main office in Boston and at many locations in the greater Boston area. The Boston Chapter of SCORE offers individual free counseling, low-cost workshops, and free team visits to business locations to conduct business reviews