BUFFALO, N.Y. —  Right now, small businesses need all the relief they can get. A group of financial institutions is coming together to help those in Western New York connect with financial resources.

"Well the pandemic is hard for everybody certainly,” Nia Badger, who owns MMW Style Studio in downtown Buffalo, said.

MMW Style Studio is no exception. The women's clothing boutique was forced to close from mid-March to the end of July last year. When it opened back up in the summer, things were different.  

"The landscape of downtown has changed,” Badger said. “There were a lot of workers, all the employees from city hall, from the Rath building, from my own building were coming in, it was hustle and bustle. They were stopping in on lunch. They were looking for something for Christmas, or holidays, or summer BBQs and now all these events have stopped and people are not working downtown." 

Those circumstances can be tough for a business just trying to survive all the hurdles of the past year.

"So businesses are having very different experiences,” Duncan Kirkwood, the community partner for Capital Connect NY, said. “Some businesses are growing. They've been forced to adapt and go virtual. While some businesses are really struggling."

Captial Connect NY is a coalition of four community development financial institutions invested in the Western New York region. The financial institutions include Launch NY, PathStone Enterprise Center, Pursuit and the Westminster Economic Development Institute. Capital Connect is kicking off a "Step by Step" virtual event series on May 3 at 4 p.m. to teach local business owners on how and where to secure local, state, and federal funding. 

"A lot of businesses are really at that tipping point on if they can go up and take advantage of this moment and really launch their business to the next level, or hit a brick wall,” said Kirkwood. “And they can start really going down, down, downhill where they may not be able to recover. We don't want that."

The free workshop is geared toward local businesses especially those run by minorities and women. 

"It's important because while expenses are still going on, rent is still due, you still have to buy, but with not as much traffic or people supporting the business, Badger said. “We definitely need the funding."

Annetta Williams has several titles including author, singer, and life coach. Before the pandemic she traveled around the U.S. and outside the country for speaking engagements. But COVID-19 made her go virtual. She plans to attend the workshop so she can better tap into her audience. 

"So I'm expecting some new strategies on how to captivate my audience,” Williams said. “Or I would say or whoever I am speaking with, businesses, organizations, schools, different things like that, in a new way.”

You can RSVP for the event here.