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Nantucket Chamber of Commerce to Launch the Rock Solid Fund

NANTUCKET, Mass. (November 18, 2020) Today, The Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce, in
partnership with ReMain Ventures, is pleased to announce a new grant program has been
established for local small businesses owners, to help them launch innovative responses
to economic challenges, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The Rock Solid Fund will award micro-grants of up to $5,000 to Nantucket-based
companies with a history of positive cash flow prior to the pandemic. The funds will help
local business owners to accelerate innovative ideas needed to ensure their continued
contribution to the stability and growth of the Nantucket economy, both short and long-
term.

 

ReMain Ventures will provide $20,000 to seed the fund. The Chamber will administer the
fund through its Nantucket Island Center for Entrepreneurship (NICE), with the first
grants to be awarded by the end of this calendar year. This sponsorship is part of ReMain
Venture’s generous history of supporting the island’s tradition of independence,
innovation and entrepreneurship through unique programming, including NICE and the
Chamber’s “Keep the Rock Solid” business support initiative.

 

“We understand the importance of cash flow in today’s uncertain climate and are excited
to see the innovative ideas proposed by some of our island’s most successful small
business owners,” said Cecil Jensen, Executive Director of ReMain Ventures. “It is our
hope that through this sponsorship, we will encourage other Nantucket investors to help
support Nantucket’s economic lifeblood – it’s small business community – by contributing
to this fund.”

 

“The Rock Solid Fund is perfectly aligned with the central mission of the Nantucket Island
Chamber of Commerce, to foster the economic development of the island through the
support of local small businesses” said Alicia Carney, Chairman of the Board of the
Chamber. “We are thrilled to be able to extend this support to now include cash grants
to for-profit businesses for the first time in the Chamber’s history.”

 

Since March, the Chamber has been actively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by
offering educational and informational programming to the entire island business
community, including KeepTheRockSolid.com and related programming offered through
NCTV18 and WACK FM/True Island Digital. The Chamber has also offered business
owners one-on-one consulting sessions to address specific needs, through the NICE
program.

 

Additional information, including eligibility criteria and the application form, can be
found on NantucketChamber.org/Rock-Solid-Fund. Applications are due by Friday,
December 11, 2020.

 

The Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce is the primary business advocacy organization on
Nantucket representing more than 750 island businesses. Partnering with the Massachusetts
Office of Travel & Tourism, the Chamber also implements domestic and international tourism
initiatives to promote the island’s economic development to its vital tourism entities.

 

ReMain Ventures and ReMain Nantucket were founded by philanthropist Wendy Schmidt to
support the economic, social, and environmental vitality of the island of Nantucket. ReMain
Ventures invests in buildings and businesses that work to strengthen the island’s year-round
economy. Its projects seek to spark for-profit innovation and dependable job creation in order
to bring long term value to the island and its residents. ReMain Ventures has worked in
conjunction with ReMain Nantucket to revitalize the downtown district year-round through the
preservation of historic buildings that are home to a mix of nonprofit and commercial
businesses.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

November 18, 2020

grants@nantucketchamber.org

508-228-1700