Northside UP to use Collaborative Impact Prize to launch small-business program

SYRACUSE — The Northside Urban Partnership (Northside UP) has won the first ever CNY Collaborative Impact Prize philanthropy grant from the Central New York Community Foundation.

The $85,000 prize will help launch the Incubating Northside Culture project on Syracuse’s Northside. The project will help entrepreneurs launch small businesses in Northside neighborhoods by providing support, education, and lending assistance, according to the foundation.

Twelve business concepts will be launched in the program’s first year.

“This grant will provide an opportunity for the greater Syracuse community to discover the many talents and cultural assets that are often hidden within the neighborhood,” Dominic Robinson, director of Northside UP, said in a news release. “Northsiders, representing countries from across the world, will be given access to the education, support and financing necessary to translate their unique talents, cultures, and experiences into a viable business.”

The CNY Collaborative Impact Prize is a special one-time grant made in celebration of the Community Foundation’s 85th anniversary. Northside UP beat out 15 other applicants.

Northside UP is a collaboration of business and community organizations aiming to revitalize the Northside neighborhood of Syracuse.

The Community Foundation is a charitable foundation with assets of more than $130 million. It awards close to $6.7 million in grants to nonprofit organizations annually.