Wanted for grants: women owning businesses

Designer Eileen Fisher”™s Irvington-based company is taking applications through May 31 for its annual business grant program for women entrepreneurs.

Up to five grants of $12,500 each will be awarded to for-profit businesses or social enterprises that are for-profit and nonprofit hybrids. Wholly women-owned companies will be chosen for their innovation, socially consciousness and commitment to environmental and economic sustainability in their communities.

Fisher, who began her women”™s wear design business with $350 in savings, launched the program in 2004 with a $20,000 grant to commemorate her company”™s 20^th anniversary. “I am constantly inspired by the big impacts small businesses can have on their communities,” she said in a statement. “These companies deserve recognition as role models for the way that they create inventive approaches to working harmoniously with the planet and one another.”

Recipients will attend a two-day conference in New York City in early 2014, where they will meet past grant recipients and Eileen Fisher company teams.

To get more information about the program or to submit an application, visit eileenfisher.com/grants.