How It Works

Our community grant program has a local approach. The eBusiness Community Grant program is our approach to help businesses, non-profits, and educational/governmental programs and institutions grow by sharing our ebusiness knowledge and expertise. Recipients of grants will gain access to the most current technology and trends in websites, mobile apps, and business process automation. Instead of spending our marketing money on advertising, we’d rather invest in your local businesses, build partnerships with local talent, and help grow your local workforce.

Grant Eligibility and Selection Process

Q: Who is eligible?
A: Any for-profit, non-profit, or educational/governmental entity in Linn and Johnson counties, Iowa or the Greater Corridor area. Preference is given to applicants who can help their neighborhood or local economy.

Q: Is the grant program only available in the Cedar Rapids Corridor?
A: Yes, for now. The Cedar Rapids Corridor area is our pilot community. Based on the experience we gain from this pilot, we will do a bit of fine-tuning and then open up the program to additional areas. When we do, we will allow you to request your community be added to the list of communities in this program. If you are interested in updates in this grant program, please contact us.

Q: How many eBusiness Community Grants are available?
A: Up to four small-sized businesses (1-50 staff) and four medium-sized businesses (51-250 staff) will receive grants. We work with larger businesses, but this grant program is designed to help local businesses.

Q: What is the timeline for the Cedar Rapids Corridor eBusiness Community Grant?
A: Here are the stages of the acceptance process.
• We are accepting grant applications until 11:59 p.m. on August 30, 2013.
• We will review all applications September 3-10. During the review process, we may contact certain applicants if we have questions. If we have a question about your application, it will come to you in the form of an email during the review time period.
• After the review, we will select the four most qualified small- and the four most qualified medium-sized business applicants. We may also select up to two small- and two medium-sized businesses as alternates if a provisional applicant is unable to meet the requirements of this program.
• All provisional applicants and alternate applicants will be notified of their acceptance via email on or about September 10, 2013. Visit www.Dialogs.com/GrantStatus to check the status of the selection process at any time. We will not respond to status requests.
• We will work with provisional applicants to write a statement of work and a budget. Provisional applicants must provide proof of funding for their portion of their budgets by October 4, 2013 or risk being replaced by an alternate applicant.

Q: When should I start looking for funds for my portion of my eBusiness Community Grant project?
A: You should start the search for funding now to ensure you are ready if your project is selected.

Q: How much should I budget for my portion of my eBusiness Community Grant project?
A: The overall cost for a custom web or mobile application can vary greatly. Grant projects will be between $5,000 and $50,000. Dialogs will contribute software licenses and reduced cost of development services equal to 30-50% of your project’s budget. We will assist provisional applicants in any way we can to help secure the funding for the remaining budget.

Q: Is Dialogs an affordable partner for ebusiness projects?
A: Yes – especially in the eBusiness Community Grant program. Dialogs will utilize local qualified college interns and unemployed/underemployed individuals for production work to provide real-life portfolio experience, college credit, and new employment opportunities in your community. We will also train you and your staff to lower costs where possible.

Grants Powered by Dialogs

Dialogs Apps, Inc. opened for business in 1995 as a custom web application development company. Early projects were built from the ground up to provide precise solutions for our customers. In 2000, Dialogs Framework was first published for public use. In recent years, We have become a leader in single point content management, building easy-to-use systems that combine websites, mobile apps, and business system integration for small businesses as well as large corporations. Our projects range from simple marketing content to enterprise-level solutions.

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