City resources for small businesses: Commercial ownership assistance program

As part of National Small Business Week, the City of Madison’s Economic Development Division is highlighting some of the programs and resources offered to local business owners through the Office of Business Resources.

The City of Madison’s Commercial Ownership Assistance (COA) program helps business owners expand by transitioning from rental spaces to owning their own commercial property. The program specifically focuses resources on communities that have historically faced barriers to accessing the capital needed to start or grow their businesses.

According to City data, People of Color make up about 27% of the City of Madison’s population, but business ownership rates for People of Color are between 3% and 9%. In addition to focusing on People of Color, immigrant communities, women, disabled residents, and veterans, the COA program also prioritizes investments that support businesses located in under-invested geographic areas of the city.  

In order to support those businesses, the COA program provides forgivable loans of up to $250,000 to help business owners take the next steps toward owning or developing property for their business.

Smart Cleaning Solutions, a certified minority-owned business by the City of Madison’s Department of Civil Rights that provides environmentally-sensitive cleaning services to residential and commercial clients, was one of the local businesses to participate in the COA program in the past year, receiving $250,000 in 2023 to help build a new facility on Agriculture Drive.

The COA program is funded by the Small Business Equity and Recovery (SBER) program in the City’s operating budget, as well as Tax Increment Districts 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54. The program has an annual budget of $500,000 and applications are not accepted once funds are exhausted.  

You can learn more about the COA program and how to apply on the Economic Development Division’s website. Applications are received on a quarterly basis and are due no later than Noon on the 3rd Friday of January, April, July, and October.

In addition to the COA program, SBER helps fund other City programs and initiatives, including the Façade Grant Program, the Madison Pop Up Shop Program, the BusinessReady Program, Kiva Madison, and several Entrepreneurs of Color programs and initiatives.