This weekend of honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will have added significance for more than two dozen Tempe entrepreneurs.

Tempe Mayor Corey Woods announced the 27 recipients of Tempe's BIPOC Micro-manufacturing Grants during the MLK Diversity Awards Breakfast on Jan. 9. 

"Helping people prosper is only one benefit of this program. Investing in Tempe’s entrepreneurs is a way of investing in our city’s future economic growth. We all benefit from new products and services, new ideas and possibly even new jobs," Woods said.

Eleven percent of the nation’s businesses are owned by people of color, according to a city release.

Tempe officials said they recognized that number had to grow and set aside $300,000 and partnered with Rep. Greg Stanton, whose district includes Tempe, to secure $500,000 in federal funding.

The $800,000 fund provides up to $25,000 stipends to BIPOC-owned businesses that can be used for rent, supplies, tools, “anything they need to succeed,” the release stated. They also receive a Tempe Chamber of Commerce membership.

Grant recipients include:
The Molecules Company
Big Red Hot Sauce
White Hawk Industries
Simply Wick
Alpha Manufacturing Solutions
Black Russian Label
Pastiche La Femme
RecoFit
LaMark Cole, LLC