Congratulations to the five finalists of Competition THRIVE, a business plan competition to support immigrant entrepreneurs in New York City. Competition THRIVE is jointly funded by NYCEDC and Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, and is administered by Baruch College's Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship.

Each of the finalist organizations below will receive seed funding of $25,000 to address challenges that face this immigrant business community, including credit access, financial management, language barriers, and connections to business networks. Selected from 39 proposals, the winning five proposals were:

• Accion USA: Program will address immigrant entrepreneurs and their access to credit to grow their businesses.
• Business Outreach Center Network, Inc. (BOC Network): Program will introduce a new online business resource and lending platform for their existing network of business counselors, lending service representatives, and other service providers.
• Make the Road NY (MRNY): Three-tiered program will address challenges faced by immigrant-owned small businesses in Jackson Heights, Queens; Bushwick, Brooklyn; and Port Richmond, Staten Island.
• Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC): Program will address challenges faced by the City's Chinese community in becoming Home Improvement Contractors licensed by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs.
• Washington Heights Inwood Development Corporation (WHIDC): Program to expand their childcare business development program, which already provides a 22-session Spanish-language classroom training seminar to assist home and center-based childcare providers. Programs focus on financial literacy, marketing skills, and assistance in securing small start-up grants and loans.

The finalists will have six months to pilot their programs, at which point the program viewed by the judges as most sustainable, and with the most potential to be expanded, will receive an additional $100,000 to further develop their program. Read more details in our press release.