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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.

2026 Grant Timeline

  • The 2026 grant application window will open December 15, 2025 and close January 9, 2026.

  • Grant recipients will be notified by February 6, 2026.

  • Recipients and project partners will be recognized at 13th annual Good Business Summit, to be held February 18, 2026 at Charleston Music Hall.

  • Selected projects begin by early March 2026 and should be completed by May 30, 2026. Project deliverables vary based on project and partner.

  • Follow-up surveys sent to partners and recipients in June 2026.

Grant Eligibility Criteria

  • The applicant must be the owner of the business and be 18 years of age or older.

  • The applicant must be eligible for Lowcountry Local First membership:

    • The business is privately held and not publicly traded.

    • The business is based locally and has no corporate or national headquarters outside the Lowcountry.

    • The business owners who have a controlling interest of more than 50% live in the Lowcountry.

    • 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.

  • The applicant has been in business and making sales for two or less years or is preparing to launch in the next 6 months.

  • The applicant’s business employs less than 5 full time employees.

  • 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.