New grant from Porter House KC helps business owners ‘Scale Deep’; applications close Oct. 24

An additional funding opportunity for select small businesses is now available thanks to a seed planted years ago by The Porter House KC.

The nonprofit has partnered with the JPMorgan Chase Foundation for the new Scale Deep Grant, which will disperse $30,000 between three small businesses for back office support, equipment cost, rental assistance, and general system needs.

Applications are open now through Oct. 24. Click here to apply.

The grant came about after a chance meeting with the leader of the JPMorgan Chase philanthropy team about four years ago at KCSourceLink, said to Dan Smith, who launched The Porter House KC in 2017 with Charon Thompson to help underserved entrepreneurs start and sustain their businesses.

“She heard about our work and that was exciting for us to hear,” said Smith, recalling the interaction. “Fast forward three years later, she reached back out with an opportunity and a dope relationship was born.”

Click here to learn more about JP Morgan Chase’s previous investment in the Porter House.

Through the Scale Deep grant, the top three businesses — chosen by a panel of judges — are expected to be awarded $15,000, $10,000, and $5,000, respectively. 

“We are encouraging small business owners who operate in the KCMO/KCK Metro area, have been in business at least six months, have a strong, clearly defined business model, and a clear need for support (to apply),” Smith added.

Miranda Schultz, program manager at The Porter House KC, speaks during an event at The Porter House KC

Unlike Porter House’s year-long Alchemy Sandbox program, there will be no live-pitch competition for the grant. Business owners must submit an application through the website, along with a video that showcases their business. 

“We decided that providing business owners the opportunity to share out their businesses through application and five-minute video would give each of you enough time to showcase (and potentially take the ‘pitch nerves’ off of) each of your businesses, while also still having the opportunity for funding (because accessibility for our business owners continues to be everything for us),” The Porter House KC explained on its Scale Deep Grant page.

Click here to read more about the Alchemy Sandbox’s third-round pitches.

The name for the Scale Deep Grant, Smith said, is from a Harvard Business Review article about how entrepreneurship can transform local economies that they came across earlier this year. It explains the difference between scaling up — growing broadly and quickly — and scaling deep — growing deeply and slowly while embedded in the local economy.

“It resonated with the team and articulated our position in the ecosystem really well,” he added.

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This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn