BALTIMORE, MD—Wells Fargo has awarded a $40,000 grant to the Community College of Baltimore County’s (CCBC) Center for Business Innovation (CBI) to support its ongoing efforts to foster entrepreneurship in the Baltimore region. The grant will strengthen the CBI’s work to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Baltimore, enhancing coaching services and providing seed money to small business startups through CCBC’s Elite Accelerator Program.

The Elite Accelerator Program is a selective initiative for the top 10 companies from CCBC’s Business Plan Competitions and retail initiative, The Collective. Members of the program gain valuable experience through monthly coaching sessions with leading business experts, individual mentorship, and the opportunity to receive a grant for successful program participation. With support from Wells Fargo and the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation, the CBI has doubled the seed funding available to participants in its accelerator program. The grant from Wells Fargo will match the funding from the Ratcliffe Foundation, further enhancing the resources available to participants.

Professor Dennis Sullivan, Executive Director of the CCBC Center for Business Innovation, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership with Wells Fargo, saying it will enable the CBI to provide even more resources for entrepreneurs as they work to grow their businesses.

Wells Fargo’s commitment to empowering entrepreneurs in the Baltimore region is evident through this grant, according to Traci Horne, vice president, Community Impact and Philanthropy, at Wells Fargo. Horne expressed excitement about collaborating with the CCBC Center for Business Innovation to support its Elite Acceleration Program, equipping small startup businesses with critical coaching resources and seed funding to ignite their growth. Wells Fargo is proud to invest philanthropically and advocate for innovators shaping Baltimore’s future.

The grant will also enhance professional coaching through the Center’s Think and Grow Seminar Series, offering aspiring and established entrepreneurs free presentations on digital marketing, social media strategies, and intellectual property in entrepreneurship.

The CCBC Center for Business Innovation has been a catalyst for entrepreneurship for over a decade, empowering more than 4,000 students, alumni, and community members to sharpen their business skills, access capital, and expand their entrepreneurial networks.

The CCBC Center for Business Innovation and its programs can be found at https://www.ccbcmd.edu/innovation.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.