Local Business Owners Ready to Grow with Grant Funding
by N.H. Community Loan Fund
on May 21, 2026
Photo: Twenty-nine small business owners were recognized by the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund with capacity-building grants on May 19 in Manchester. Community Loan Fund President & CEO Steve Saltzman (top, middle) and Director of Small Business Engagement Latonya Wallace (second from right) presented the awards as part of Community-Driven Economic Empowerment.
Manchester, N.H. (May 21, 2026) — The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund awarded accelerator grants totaling $100,000 to 29 small business owners on May 19 in Manchester as part of Community-Driven Economic Empowerment (C-DEE). C-DEE helps small business owners from across New Hampshire become financially self-sufficient with grant funding and technical assistance.
The 2026 awardees, representing all 10 New Hampshire counties, employ 150 people across 11 industries — including farm and food businesses, restaurants, and retail stores.
“The Community-Driven Economic Empowerment accelerator grants recognize that small business owners are already rooted — they just need the right conditions to grow,” said Latonya Wallace, director of small business engagement at the Community Loan Fund. “This program doesn’t remove every barrier, but it removes one at the moment it truly matters.”
Launched in 2023, C-DEE draws on the Community Loan Fund’s experience connecting local businesses with the financing and coaching they need to thrive. Since then, C-DEE has awarded $330,000 in funding to 115 small business owners and provided 157 entrepreneurs with technical assistance.
The C-DEE Community Business Advisory Council, comprising business owners and community leaders, selects the funding recipients each year. Awardees receive up to $5,000 to be used for computer hardware and software, and professional services, such as bookkeeping and digital marketing.
C-DEE is a partnership of the Community Loan Fund and the Business Alliance for People of Color. The Small Business Development Center provides no-cost coaching to all the applicants and Sheehan Phinney offers legal services to select awardees on a pro-bono basis.
C-DEE is funded by the Endowment for Health, Needham Bank, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, TD Bank, Santander Bank, and the U.S. Treasury Equitable Recovery Grant Program.
The 2026 C-DEE Awards & Celebration event was sponsored by Kennebunk Savings Bank, Mascoma Bank, Eastern Bank, Ledyard Bank, Merrimack County Savings Bank, MVSB, and Bangor Savings Bank.
Full list of recipients and businesses by town
Auburn
Yasamin Safarzadeh, Yasamin Safarzadeh LLC
Columbia
Roxanne Herres, SunnValley
Concord
Alison Murphy, Penumbra; Jacqueline Ose, Black Olive Pottery Studio; Chandra Reber, Collective Agency; Susan Riedl, Gnomies; and Jocelyn Winn, The Eleventh Letter
Derry
Whitney Elsesser, Holistic & Hormonal; and Dante Marino, DeadProof Pizza
Gilsum
Mariana Gibaldi, Gilsum Village Store
Hampton Falls
Tiffany Whitcomb, The Pipeline Project
Keene
Cameron Paul, Seventeen Management Consulting
Lincoln
Forrest Chess, Mountain Wanderer
Lyndeborough
Karen Steuer, Hemlock Springs Soaps
Manchester
Ama Abadoo-Brew, The Parent Forge; Kastle Harper, Rhythm & Roots Studio; Kate MacKenzie, South of the 6; Tina Marchand, Ellie and Piper; Kristie Ranahan, Village Play Café; and Aliah Rodriguez, Alchemized Divinity
Meredith
Sarah Roberts, SJR Nonprofit Solutions
Nashua
Whitney Barney, We Are All Art; and Sonia Vazquez, Perfectly Imperfect Flips & More!
Ossipee
Laurianne Bennett, Bennett Freedom Farm
Peterborough
Emerald Anderson-Ford, The Liberation Nexus Lab
Portsmouth
Eileen Marousek, Port City Foods DBA Port City Pretzels
Strafford
Nicole West, New Perspective Consulting
Wakefield
Harlyene Goss, HD Merrimack
Weare
Elizabeth Salas Evans, Cayena Econ Lab