Your Brand’s Next Evolution.
Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation (AAEDC) provides investment, technical assistance and programs that foster community revitalization initiatives. The organization plays a vital role in enhancing commercial districts, improving county infrastructure, increasing agriculture-based business and promoting high-value business sectors such as technology and national security.
Challenge
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As COVID-19 disrupted small businesses nationwide, AAEDC needed to rapidly distribute CARES Act funding across Anne Arundel County.
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The program required a secure, intuitive online application capable of handling high traffic and sensitive data.
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Speed, reliability, and fairness were critical to ensure funds reached small businesses, nonprofits, and childcare providers efficiently.
Strategy
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Designed, developed, launched, and managed secure online grant applications for AAEDC’s CARES Act programs.
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Prioritized usability, stability, and performance to avoid the technical failures seen in early PPP application systems.
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Built a scalable platform that enabled fast deployment, high-volume processing, and a seamless applicant experience.
Results
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Processed more than 1,000 applications and distributed $31.4 million in CARES Act funding.
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Supported equitable distribution, with 26% of funds awarded to minority-owned businesses and 44% to woman-owned businesses.
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Delivered a reliable, user-friendly application experience that earned immediate positive feedback and helped businesses recover post-COVID.
Streamlined Application Process
Almost immediately, many of the county’s small business owners began expressing relief and gratitude for the seamless application process leading up to grant fund distributions. These grants were intended to bridge the gap during COVID-19 recovery and reopening and the website interface was characterized as painless and stable compared to some of the erratic applications business owners had experienced previously.
“This experience is by far the most efficient and streamlined I have experienced through this entire COVID19 debacle. I appreciate this more than can be expressed in words.”
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5000000 + IN GRANT FUNDS awarded so far (and counting)
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960 + TOTAL APPLICATIONS processed so far (and counting)
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70 % OF FUNDS awarded to minority and woman-owned businesses
Cloud-Based & PCI-Compliant
Vitamin quickly spun-up and implemented an elaborate, highly scalable, PCI-compliant, cloud-based solution on just three day’s notice. The online application’s reliability and ease of use has proven to be instrumental to its success and as a result has helped hundreds of business owners get a foothold in the post-COVID-19 economy.
“We needed a team that could get this right from the start, and that’s exactly what Vitamin did. This is the third time Vitamin has provided a form-based system for our users to access programs and funds available, and each project has been a complete success. Vitamin went to work immediately over the course of long days, nights, weekends to meet the deadline and ensure businesses would be able to gain access reliably when we threw the switch.”
