By: Katie WolpertMarch 24, 2026

Spring Forward: Small Business Grant Opportunity

As we step into Spring, Woodlands Community Lenders is offering a $500 reimbursable grant to small businesses in our service area (see county list below) to help you prepare for the growth this next season brings. Whether it’s elevating your marketing efforts to reach new or encourage repeat customers, purchasing that piece of equipment that will help you increase efficiency, or training your team to improve performance, we’ve got you covered! 

Deadline to apply: 9:00am, April 1, 2026

Click Here to Apply

No match required. This is a quick turnaround small grant opportunity. Awards will be announced on April 3rd, 2026.

Examples of eligible uses include marketing expenses (sandwich boards, newspaper or social media advertising, brand merchandise i.e. hats, t-shirts, mouse pads, etc.), capital purchases, staff training, hiring sign-on bonus, inventory, contractors, technology upgrades, market materials (tents, tables, display fixtures), and more.

Ineligible expenses include general ongoing business costs (rent, payroll, utilities, etc.), staff parties, alcohol, lobbying or personal items. If you have a question about whether your idea is eligible, please contact mjefferson@woodlandswv.org.

An eligible idea must also meet each of the following criteria:

To be eligible your business must:

  1. Be located within a WCL Service Area County (see below)

  2. Submit a complete application by 9am on April 1, 2026.

To receive awarded funding you must:

  1. Sign a grant contract stipulating conditions of the award

  2. Spend all awarded funds by April 22, 2026

  3. Submit dated receipts for all reimbursable funds by 5pm on April 24th, 2026.

 

Click Here to Apply

*WCL Service Area
Barbour

Grant

Greenbrier

Nicholas

Pendleton

Pocahontas

Preston

Randolph

Tucker

Upshur

Webster

This grant opportunity is brought to you by Woodlands Community Lenders in partnership with Appalachian Community Capital and made possible by the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Initiatives Grant.

Stories

A Trail Worth Following: Zach Adams and Appalachian Dirt

When most of us lace up our hiking boots and head into the mountains, we rarely stop to wonder how the trail beneath our feet came to be. But ...

Read More
News

Blackwater Apartments Now Providing Workforce Housing for Upper Tucker County

Eight units in Davis are move in ready as community deliberates on what project to take on next Together with the local supporters and state champions who made this ...

Read More
Stories

Success/ion: Blackwater Outdoor Adventures

What Patrick McCann misses most about running Blackwater Outdoor Adventures (BOA) is his role in the community. A paddler with a background in adventure education, Patrick made BOA into ...

Read More