Small business owners in the city of Mission may qualify for a $25,000 grant.

The grants are being offered by the Mission Economic Development Corporation to businesses in the city’s downtown area. 

The Drunken Chicken restaurant was one of five downtown businesses to receive $25,000 in 2024. Drunken Chicken owner Beto Cantu said his business was able to replace new equipment, upgrade its plumbing and add new services after receiving the grant.

“It was something that came in just in time because we were struggling a little bit,” Cantu said. “We kind of started getting to another level where we had to upgrade some stuff here. It’s an older building."

The money has helped the restaurant operate more efficiently, Cantu said. 

It's improvements like these the Mission EDC said they want to help other business owners with “to do capital improvements to the building, to get technology for their business to train their employees — anything that’s going to help them do business better,” Mission EDC CEO Belen Guerrero Aguirre said.

The Downtown Assistance Program is funded through sales tax, and the Mission EDC is now putting that money back into the city.

This year, the city wants to award six businesses $25,000 each.

Business owners will have to apply, and 12 have already submitted an application.

The deadline to apply is Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. Click here to apply.

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