MANCHESTER, NH – 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