2026 L.O.C.A.L. Small Business Grant Program Opens on Long Island
Optimum Business and the LIA Foundation are awarding $5,000 and $25,000 grants to 40 Long Island small businesses in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Forty Long Island small businesses are about to get a financial boost, and the application window is now open.
Optimum Business and the Long Island Association Foundation have announced the 2026 L.O.C.A.L. Small Business Grant Program, the third year of an initiative that has already put half a million dollars into the hands of 90 local businesses since launching in 2024. This year’s program will distribute $5,000 grants to 20 businesses in Nassau County and 20 in Suffolk County, with one business from each county eligible for a larger $25,000 award.
For small business owners on Long Island, where commercial rents run high and competition from larger chains is relentless, grants like these can mean the difference between expanding and stagnating. The program targets businesses with 10 or fewer full-time employees that either operate a brick-and-mortar storefront or spend the majority of their time serving a specific community. Applicants must demonstrate how the funding would support both the growth of their business and the neighborhood around it.
“At Optimum Business, we understand the vital role Long Island’s small business community plays in the region’s growth, and we’ve witnessed the significant difference that financial support can make for these businesses and the neighborhoods they serve,” said Andrew Rainone, senior vice president of national sales at Optimum.
The $25,000 grants come with a higher bar. Those applicants must submit a short video and complete an interview process before being considered for the larger award.
The announcement arrives at a milestone moment for the Long Island Association, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Stacey Sikes, recently elevated to president and CEO of the LIA after Matt Cohen stepped down from the role, called the timing significant.
“As we celebrate the LIA’s 100th anniversary, it is especially meaningful to continue our partnership with Optimum Business and mark the third year of the L.O.C.A.L. Small Business Grant program,” Sikes said. She added that the initiative reflects the organization’s commitment stretching across a full century and into the future.
Sikes had served as vice president of government affairs and communications when this year’s program was announced before her promotion.
The program was established under Cohen’s leadership in 2024. Cohen had described the grants as investments in the “economic health and future prosperity of our entire region.” That framing still fits. Small businesses are not just economic engines. They are anchors for neighborhoods. The hardware store on the corner, the family-run restaurant, the local accounting firm that has served the same block for twenty years. These are the businesses the L.O.C.A.L. program is designed to protect and strengthen.
Beyond the grant money itself, the LIA is sweetening the offer with membership benefits. Applicants will receive a six-month LIA membership, and grant recipients who are new to the organization will be brought on as full members for one year at no cost. The LIA’s network, which includes connections to government officials, economic development resources, and other business leaders across the Island, can be as valuable to a small business owner as the grant check itself.
For residents who care about what their downtown corridors and local shopping strips look like, this program has direct implications. Every small business that survives and grows is one fewer vacant storefront. Every owner who builds their network is better positioned to weather the next economic disruption, whether that comes from rising costs, changing consumer habits, or another unforeseen squeeze.
Applications are available through the LIA website. Winners will be announced later this year.
Long Island’s small businesses have faced sustained pressure over the past several years, from pandemic-era disruptions that never fully resolved to the ongoing affordability challenges that affect both owners and the customers they serve. A $5,000 grant will not solve every problem. But for a business operating on thin margins, targeted funding can unlock possibilities that would otherwise stay out of reach. For the 42 businesses that will walk away with awards this year, that could mean a new hire, a storefront upgrade, or the expansion that has been sitting on a back burner for far too long.