BizGrow provides free legal assistance, business support, and technical assistance to low-income entrepreneurs, people of color, immigrants, and women—ensuring they encounter fewer obstacles and more opportunities.
Growing wealth in historically disadvantaged communities is a critical civil rights issue. For nearly 25 years, we have helped close the wealth gap by fueling equitable economic growth and increasing access to economic justice. Our programs include free legal representation, technical assistance, and workshops for small business owners on subjects such as entity formation, contracts, taxes, leases, and intellectual property.
The small business owners we support have big dreams, but limited resources. From family-owned restaurants to green economy startups, they play an important role in their local communities—helping individuals achieve self-sufficiency, creating jobs, and contributing to the vibrancy of our Commonwealth.
Growing a business takes courage, creativity, and commitment. With our support, local business owners can put down firm roots based on sound advice—and thrive.
This is business law for the public good.
This is economic justice in action.
This is LCR | BizGrow.
Resources for Small Businesses
BizGrow Central
BizGrow Central is the first hub in Greater Boston where underserved entrepreneurs can access free legal support, technical guidance, professional workspace, technology, and a peer community, all under one roof.
Building on BizGrow’s success and popularity, BizGrow Central will serve as a home for economic opportunity in downtown Boston. This free entrepreneurship hub will provide aspiring and established small business owners with access to pro bono legal services, business support, mentorship, skill-building programs, collaborative workspace, and connections to Boston’s broader small business ecosystem.
BizGrow Central will also help revitalize downtown Boston by bringing new energy to underutilized office space and attracting hundreds of entrepreneurs to the heart of the city.
Through this new physical infrastructure, LCR is deepening and expanding BizGrow’s work to foster economic growth, resilience, and opportunity for small businesses. BizGrow Central will strengthen Greater Boston’s small business ecosystem and offer immediate and long-term benefits, including:
- Access to free legal resources, business tools, workspace, and technology.
- Skill-building opportunities that strengthen business literacy, digital capacity, and legal knowledge.
- Holistic support to help entrepreneurs solve problems, avoid costly mistakes, and grow sustainably.
- Peer learning, networking, and mentorship that build social capital.
Location
BizGrow Central will be located at 141 Tremont Street in Boston, directly across the street from the Boston Common.
Space — especially in downtown Boston — remains an important ingredient in the recipe for success. BizGrow Central democratizes access to professional space while helping activate the downtown core. By supporting dynamic businesses owned by low-income entrepreneurs, the hub brings renewed energy, foot traffic, and inclusive economic growth to the heart of the city. The location is ideal: steps from Downtown Crossing transit, with a direct bus connection from Nubian Square to Temple Street — creating a true one-ride solution for many clients to access opportunity in downtown Boston.
BizGrow Central is more than a physical space. It is also a team of people committed to helping entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life.
In the News
Hub for underserved entrepreneurs to open in downtown Boston, Boston Globe
BizGrow Central to house free legal services and workspace across from Boston Common, Boston Business Journal
First look: BizGrow Central, a hub for underserved entrepreneurs, to open downtown, Axios
BizGrow Success Stories
Each year, we work with hundreds of inspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses. Their success stories embody the heart and soul of BizGrow.
Teresa Maynard
Graduated from our inaugural FoodBiz 101 series. She came to us with the dream of one day owning her own bakery. After completing the series—as well as participating in our workshops and legal clinics—Teresa achieved her dream and launched Sweet Teez Bakery. Today, her bakery has major contracts with multiple grocery and specialty stores across New England.
Carolina Salinas and Carolina Garcia
Both immigrants, enrolled in FoodBiz 101 aspiring to build a business selling Venezuelan arepas so they can share their culture with their new community. At the end of the series, Las Carolinas was born. Fueled by their hard work and determination, Las Carolinas continued to work with us, attending our weekly workshops and using our services to form their entity, draft contracts, and protect their intellectual property. Today, you can find Las Carolinas selling their delicious arepas in Somerville.
Duane Osborn
Has been attending BizGrow programming and clinics for two years to help develop his cart business, which sells food, souvenirs, and novelty items. During this time, he expanded his operations from a single cart at South Station to multiple locations across several MBTA stations. Recently, he was awarded a contract to sell hot dogs outside TD Garden during Bruins games.
Diana and Angelica Cardona
Are the sister duo behind local favorite ManiNuts and their flagship product—delicious roasted peanuts coated in sesame seeds. The sisters participated in our BizGrow Launch series at Roxbury Community College. Since then, ManiNuts has found great success and now distributes and sells their products at 25 different vendor locations across Greater Boston.
Tiffany Tate
Is a long-time participant in BizGrow workshops and legal clinics. Over the course of our partnership, she has grown Linger, her online fashion magazine, into an award-winning brand, hired staff, and been featured by media outlets.
BizGrow Programs
The BizGrow Conference is our flagship annual event. This free, one-day experience provides entrepreneurs and small business owners with dozens of workshops and legal consultations with attorneys who specialize in business issues.
BizGrow Elevate: Working alongside a select cohort of entrepreneurs to tackle the non-legal challenges small businesses face and to help create thriving businesses.
WinterFest: Free all-day virtual legal clinic to help entrepreneurs close the wealth and equity gap. Click here to sign up for the next WinterFest.
Arts and Culture Series: Free six-week accelerator for artists, culture producers, and others working in the creative economy to help launch and grow their business.
FoodBiz 101: One of our most popular programs, this accelerator helps aspiring food entrepreneurs turn their vision into reality. Each session is taught by an industry expert and covers a different topic, such as permitting, business planning, and marketing, as well as food-specific subjects, including recipe scaling and labeling. At the conclusion of the series, participants present their business pitches to a panel of experts and graduate ready to live out their dreams as new business owners. FoodBiz is run in partnership with Goodwin LLP and CommonWealth Kitchen.
BizGrow Launch Series: In partnership with Roxbury Community College and Bunker Hill Community College, this seminar series provides a comprehensive overview of how to start and run a successful business of your own from writing a business plan and managing legal issues to speaking publicly, comfortably, and confidently about your business. Recent participants include an entrepreneur who launched a composting service, a life coach, and an event planner.
Nuts-and-Bolts Workshops: BizGrow offers free, standalone technical assistance workshops that touch on some of the most common legal issues that entrepreneurs encounter, including entity formation, contracts, and leases. As all business owners know, legal questions can arise throughout the life of a business. Our nuts-and-bolts workshops are also designed to address the kinds of legal issues that small businesses face while operating and growing, including intellectual property, employment law, and financing.
Legal Clinics: BizGrow legal clinics provide business owners with free, one-on-one consultations with leading attorneys from major law firms. During these clinics, business owners can ask specific questions about their business and receive the guidance they need to succeed.
Free Legal Representation: In certain cases, we can connect aspiring entrepreneurs and current business owners with volunteer attorneys for more individualized legal support. Regardless of the stage of a business whether it is just an idea or a fully formed entity, interested entrepreneurs and business owners can submit an intake form. We will contact qualifying individuals within three business days.
