In total, 276 businesses received grants since 2021 totaling more than $5.5 million

BALTIMORE, MD - BGE today awarded $2,000,000 to 100 small businesses located in central Maryland during the fourth round of BGE's Energizing Small Business Grants program. This program is part of BGE's $15 million pledge to assist small businesses with COVID-19 relief and recovery and is a multi-year commitment expected to run through at least 2023.

"Small businesses are the backbone of Maryland's economy, and their success is our collective success. Unfortunately, the region and country still feel residual impacts of COVID-19 and are now also facing difficult economic headwinds. The Energizing Small Business Grants program aims to help strengthen these businesses so they can continue serving the community," said Carim Khouzami, BGE President and CEO. "We're proud to support small businesses of all types so that they can recover and ultimately thrive."

The program prioritizes businesses operated by historically underrepresented minority groups often challenged with access to capital - with 73% of grants provided to businesses owned by people of color and 71% owned by women. Click here for a full list of recipients.

BGE partnered with Hello Alice, a free, multichannel platform that helps businesses launch and grow, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), a Washington, DC-based organization that supports entrepreneurs throughout the U.S. and around the world, to provide the grants. All applicants gain access to Hello Alice's free COVID-19 Business Resource Center and opportunities through GEN to ensure consistent support and mentorship to all business owners.

In addition to small business grants, BGE's comprehensive efforts to support Marylanders during the COVID-19 pandemic have included an additional $1.5 million contribution to the Fuel Fund of Maryland, $1 million in funding to county-administered business pandemic relief funds, expansion of BGE's Workforce Collaborative infrastructure academy to train approximately 600 local residents for job placement over the next two years, and extending flexible payment arrangement plans to help qualifying customers to maintain their electric and gas service. The Energizing Small Business Grants program and all nonprofit contributions are made using shareholder dollars and are not reflected in customer bills.

# # #BGE is Maryland's largest natural gas and electric utility, providing safe and reliable energy delivery to more than 1.3 million electric customers and more than 690,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland. The company was founded in 1816 as the nation's first gas utility and remains headquartered in Baltimore City to this day. BGE is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC), the nation's leading energy utility company. Engage with the latest BGE stories on bgenow.com and connect with BGE on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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