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Does BGE know what’s best for small businesses?

"BGE knows what's best" were the words from Baltimore Gas and Electric Company’s (BGE) memorable "Wires Down" commercial, which initially aired locally in the late 1990s.

Perhaps that phrase still holds for entrepreneurs in central Maryland, as the Baltimore-HQed natural gas and electric company embarked on a second round of its philanthropic partnership and grant program with Hello Alice and the DC-based Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN).

The Energizing Small Business grant program recently provided funding to another group of small businesses in central Maryland, to help them "succeed and thrive," as stated in a release from BGE.

Here are some of the businesses from the first round.

Interested companies had to submit applications for this cohort by Aug. 18.

It's worth noting that Hello Alice is currently facing a lawsuit, as it pointed out in a tweet last month. The suit, similar to another filed against Fearless Fund, revolves around a previous grant program in partnership with Progressive Insurance, which offered $25,000 in grants to ten Black-owned small businesses to purchase commercial vehicles.

The eligibility criteria for the Energizing Small Business program included being in good standing with or working toward compliance with the State of Maryland, as well as having under 25 employees. These criteria were well-suited for 2023 BGE Energizing Small Business grant recipients like Susan Clayton, the founder of RunMitts who won Baltimore Homecoming’s 2022 Crab Tank pitch competition and received a Comcast RISE grant earlier this year. Clayton commented on her “big news” in a post on LinkedIn.

Another entrepreneur who met this year's criteria and received funding is founder Todd Sheridan of Treehouse Juicery, which won the audience choice award at the latest Crab Tank contest last month at Loyola University of Maryland’s Baltipreneurs Accelerator demo day in March.

According to the aforelinked release, a total of 651 businesses have received grants amounting to $13.06 million since the inception of this partnership.

Meet some more of this round’s recipients here.

– Technical.ly reporter Alanah Nichole Davis (alanah@technical.ly)