ATLANTA, Ga. – Jan. 20, 2022 – Comcast Corporation has expanded its Comcast RISE program to all women-owned businesses nationwide, furthering its efforts to advance digital equity and help provide underrepresented small business owners with access to the digital tools and funding they need to thrive.
Comcast RISE, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary last November, remains open to racially and ethnically diverse small business owners. Information and the applications to apply for marketing and technology services are available at www.ComcastRISE.com.
“Small businesses in Atlanta are vital to our local economy as we rebuild and recover from the effects of the pandemic,” said Jason Gumbs, Regional Senior Vice President at Comcast. “Comcast RISE’s expansion to women-owned small businesses demonstrates our commitment to empowering and strengthening even more Atlanta businesses that are at the core of our communities.”
In its first year alone, Comcast RISE has provided more than $60 million in grants, marketing, and technology services to more than 6,700 small businesses owned by people of color – including Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian Americans. Of the 6,700 Comcast RISE recipients to date, nearly 70% have been businesses owned by women of color, spurring Comcast to take a deeper look into the unique challenges faced by women entrepreneurs. Across Atlanta, Comcast has supported dozens of small businesses through cash grants and marketing and technology services.
According to a study by the National Association of Women Business Owners, 42% of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women, with more than 1,800 new businesses being started every day. That’s nearly five times the national average. However, according to the same study, women-owned businesses are growing at only half the rate of those run by men, namely because women struggle to access capital and other resources to help them succeed.
Comcast RISE, which stands for Representation, Investment, Strength, and Empowerment, is part of Project UP, Comcast’s comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and help provide underrepresented small business owners with access to the digital tools and funding they need to thrive. Over the next 10 years, Comcast has committed $1 billion to programs, like Comcast RISE, and partnerships that will reach an estimated 50 million people with the skills, opportunities, and resources they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world
