On Sept. 14, Comcast announced that it would be committing $11 million in grants to small business owners of color. Eligible businesses in King and Pierce counties were able to apply from Oct. 1 to 14. In total, 100 grants, each up to $10,000, will be issued per city in November.

Comcast RISE (Representation, Investment, Strength, and Empowerment), combines   Comcast brands, Comcast Business and Effectv. Comcast RISE’s purpose is to provide valuable and practical support to minority-owned businesses, which it says have been the hardest hit by COVID-19. Businesses accepted to the program are eligible to receive a variety of benefits, which include consulting, advertising and newly-announced monetary grants, all provided by Comcast.

Comcast RISE was first launched in December 2020 and will have supported 13,000 businesses by 2022, according to Comcast estimates. Nearly 5,000 awardees have already been announced, such as Ruffhouse Renton, a martial arts studio that was awarded a technology makeover, including new security cameras and iPads, allowing them to take attendance and communicate more easily.