144 Anne Arundel County Businesses Benefit from Digital Services Grant

November 17, 2021

(November 18, 2021) – Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation today announced that it distributed more than $460,000 in grants to 144 businesses through its Digital Services Grant Program.

Launched on September 14, 2021, the initiative sought to help small brick-and-mortar businesses and nonprofits in Anne Arundel County engage with their past and present customers and stakeholders as the economy continues to reopen. The grant also aimed to allow them to reach new audiences and improve their ability to do business in the digital world.

Eligible uses for the $3,200 grant include the new purchase of, or subscription to, digital platforms and services including email and mobile marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), customer rewards/loyalty, e-commerce (online ordering/sales), and website and social media advertising.

Judee Jo Georgeles, owner of Annapolis-based Makeup by Judee Jo, LLC and one of the 87 woman business owners to receive a grant, said, “I am very excited for this opportunity to help grow my business with new tools like (finally)! taking online orders for products through my website and expanding my brand through social media advertising.

“This $3,200 is a small step toward helping us to automate our Boutique operation, but priceless in its value to connecting seniors to us and one another!!,” said Mandy Arnold, CEO of Partners in Care, a community nonprofit organization that offers programs and services that support the independence of older adults and operates a consignment boutique in Pasadena.

Federal American Recovery Act funds designated by the Maryland Department of Commerce supported the Digital Services Grant Program. Businesses with less than ten employees received 77 percent of the grants awarded. Sixty percent of the grants went to woman-owned businesses, 23 percent went to minority-owned businesses, and eight percent were awarded to veteran-owned businesses.

For more data on this program, including the geographic location of recipients’ businesses and more testimonials, check out the DSG Program report in the AAEDC library.

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