Significant federal funding cuts have hobbled a State College area nonprofit makerspace’s program dedicated to supporting arts-based entrepreneurs in Centre County.
The Alliance for Creative Rural Economies (ACRE) at The Rivet — Discovery Space’s makerspace for teens and adults — lost nearly $70,000 in federal funds intended to support creative small business owners.
“This is not a potential cut. These funds are gone,” Michele Crowl, executive director of Discovery Space and The Rivet, said in a statement. “We brought this program to Centre County to offer personalized, holistic support: in-person gatherings, expert-led webinars, one-on-one coaching and stipends for services specific to each entrepreneur’s business journey. Without this funding, we’re no longer able to offer the one-on-one expert sessions or service stipends that made the program truly transformative.”
The funding had been made possible through partnership with Bridgeway Capital’s Capital Readiness Program, a grant initiative that was supported by the Minority Business Development Agency.
The MBDA was among the agencies dismantled by a Trump administration executive order in March. Its future is uncertain after a federal judge in Rhode Island on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking its effective closure, but a Rivet representative said their understanding is that the ACRE funding is gone.
A cohort of 18 entrepreneurs had been selected for the ACRE program, and according to The Rivet, their success creates a ripple effect by empowering job creation, innovation, activation of local spaces and acting as catalysts for growth in the community.
“Although I am twenty years into running my business, it is only in the past two years or so that I really thought of it as such,” cohort member Ann Tarantino said in a statement. “This program at The Rivet has provided crucial resources I didn’t know I needed, like the chance to talk to a lawyer about the legal health of my business, or how to price my work and communicate it more clearly.”
While The Rivet is working to keep the ACRE program going, it is seeking community support to ensure its most effective elements can continue. Donations can be made online, and The Rivet and Discovery Space will be participating in Centre Gives May 14-15.
The funding cut comes at a difficult time for nonprofits, Crowl said, noting the recent gutting of the Institute for Museum and Library Services, an agency that offered up to $250,000 in grants and which was also part of the preliminary injunction issued on Wednesday.
“Our grant pipeline is also shrinking,” Crowl said. “Fewer avenues of support exist.”
