​In total, 176 businesses received grants in 2021 totaling more than $3.5 million

BALTIMORE (Dec. 7, 2021) – Forty-four small businesses received grants totaling $880,000 during the third round of BGE's Energizing Small Business Grants program. This program is part of BGE's $15 million pledge to assist small businesses with COVID-19 relief and recovery and is a multi-year commitment expected to run through at least 2023.

"Small businesses are foundational to our region's economy and are still being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Energizing Small Business Grants program aims to help strengthen these businesses so they can continue serving the community," said BGE CEO Carim Khouzami. "We're also supporting the economy through our Customer Relief and Energy Infrastructure Investment Plan which froze customer rates in 2021 and supports more than 26,000 jobs in Maryland. We are still dealing with new variants of COVID-19 so this multi-layered approach will continue to support our customers, businesses and communities going into 2022."

Of the 44 recipients (click here for a full list of recipients), 30% are in the healthcare and wellness industry, 20% in food and beverage services, and 14% in consumer goods and retail. A majority of the grants went to businesses owned by historically marginalized groups, more than 60% went to women-owned businesses, and nearly 20% of business owners are affiliated with the military.

"The BGE grant will serve as both a catalyst for job creation and a buttress against the challenges our business has faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the BGE team for supporting small businesses with real solutions at just the right time," said Bobby Hand, grant recipient and co-founder of BrookieGirl.

BGE partnered with Hello Alice, a free, multichannel platform that helps businesses launch and grow, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network, a Washington, DC-based organization that supports entrepreneurs throughout the U.S. and around the world, to provide the grants. All applicants gain access to Hello Alice's free COVID-19 Business Resource Center to ensure consistent support and mentorship to all business owners.

"BGE's commitment to supporting small businesses in central Maryland has created a lasting impact on the 176 outstanding small businesses awarded grants so far. Through follow up surveys, we've learned that in addition to investing the funds in general operating expenses, payroll, and marketing, 40% of recipients applied the grant to hiring new employees, further strengthening the community BGE serves," said Elizabeth Gore, co-founder and president of Hello Alice.

In addition to small business grants, BGE's comprehensive efforts to support Marylanders during the COVID-19 pandemic have included an additional $1.5 million contribution to the Fuel Fund of Maryland, $1 million in funding to county-administered business pandemic relief funds, expansion of BGE's Workforce Collaborative infrastructure academy to train approximately 600 local residents for job placement over the next three years, and extending flexible payment arrangement plans to help qualifying customers to maintain their electric and gas service. BGE and the Exelon companies in Maryland directed $1.25 million to Maryland relief organizations, including the Maryland Food Bank, United Way of Central Maryland, PCs for People, and the Baltimore Community Foundation. The Energizing Small Business Grants program and all nonprofit contributions are made using shareholder dollars and are not reflected in customer bills.

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BGE is Maryland's largest natural gas and electric utility, providing safe and reliable energy delivery to more than 1.3 million electric customers and more than 680,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland. The company was founded in 1816 as the nation's first gas utility and remains headquartered in Baltimore City to this day. BGE is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC), the nation's leading competitive energy provider. Engage with the latest BGE stories on bgenow.com and connect with BGE on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Hello Alice is a free, multichannel platform that helps businesses launch and grow. With a community of nearly 500,000 business owners in all 50 states and across the globe, Hello Alice is building the largest network of owners in the country while tracking data and trends to increase the success rate for entrepreneurs. Our partners include enterprise business services, government agencies, and institutions looking to serve small- and medium-business owners to ensure increased revenues and promote scale. A Latina owned company, founded by Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore, we believe in business for all by providing access to all owners including women, people of color, veterans, and everyone with an entrepreneurial spirit. To learn more, visit www.helloalice.com, as well as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

The Global Entrepreneurship Network operates a platform of projects and programs in 180+ countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross-border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create more jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. Learn more about GEN at genglobal.org and by following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.