When Kelli Vasso started her business about 10 years ago, she wasn’t thinking about building a catering company. She was a homeschooling mom of five looking for a way to help support her family—and a creative outlet of her own.

TownieSwag, a woman-owned business creating handcrafted products including totes, pillows, tea towels, wine bottle bags, aprons, matted prints, T-shirts, mugs, and baseball caps inspired by the places, phrases, and personalities that make each town unique.

Tony Palmieri never planned to own another business. After 22 years running a flower shop in Middletown, he had moved on to freelance work and set design. But he had always baked, a tradition passed down through generations of his family.

Twelve small businesses across Middlesex County are receiving a boost this year through $200,000 in newly awarded Business Operating Grants from the Middlesex County Revitalization Commission (MCRC).

This most recent distribution to eleven businesses follows the first two rounds of 2023 and 2024, when $380,000 of grant funding was provided to thirty-one Middlesex County businesses, for a total of $600,000 distributed in the three years of the grant program.

A diverse group of small businesses from across Middlesex County will be able to grow and remain resilient in the face of unforeseen challenges with the help of $200,000 recently awarded through the Middlesex County Revitalization Commission Business Operating Grants.

Fifteen small businesses across Middlesex County are receiving a boost this year through $200,000 in newly awarded Business Operating Grants from the Middlesex County Revitalization Commission (MCRC).