Today Citizens announced it Sixth Annual Small Business Community Champion Award winners, drawn from nearly 9,000 entries that described how recipients would use the grants to further build their businesses, bring valuable products and services to customers, and strengthen the communities in which they operate. This year’s program will again award $10,000 each to 30 small businesses across Citizens’ footprint, including ten minority-owned and ten women-owned businesses, in recognition of the positive contributions they’ve made within their communities.

Citizens created the Small Business Community Champion Award program as part of its ongoing commitment to strengthen local economies and communities. Including this year’s recipients, the program has awarded more than $1.2 million to deserving small businesses.

The 2023 Citizens Bank Small Business Community Champion Award winners are:

• A Rose in December, Medford, NJ
• Amplified Team Training, Winchester, MA
• Apostrophe Technologies, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
• Blondery, Peekskill, NY
• Capable Kids, LLC, Toledo, OH
• Carnegie Agency, Phillipsburg, NJ
• Cocoon Technologies Inc., Cleveland, OH
• District Amputee Care Center, LLC, Washington, DC
• Emerald Housing Resources, LLC, Philadelphia, PA
• Evans Industries, Inc., Canton, OH
• Fall Harvest Urban Farms, LLC, Detroit, MI
• Greensburg Med Inc, Greensburg, PA
• Ink Fish Books, Warren, RI
• James Bede Soccer Club, Framingham, MA
• Law Office of Janell S. Foster, Media, PA
• Link The Valley, Farrell, PA
• Main Street Music, Beacon, NY
• Make It Home Safe, Pittsburgh, PA
• Maraq Gourmet Soup Shop, Cleveland, OH
• Melilli Caffe & Grill, Portland, CT
• Nanopath, Cambridge, MA
• Next Generation MIHP, Detroit, MI
• NH Hoop Skills, LLC, Manchester, NH
• PhoenixFire Media, Bethlehem, PA
• Precision Performance Physical Therapy, Garnet Valley, PA
• SB Law, PLLC, Framingham, MA
• Terrart NYC, Brooklyn, NY
• The Foundational Reading & Educational Development, Wrentham, MA
• The Hamtramck Review Newspaper, Hamtramck, MI
• Varsity Theatre, LLC, Buffalo, NY

“The strong participation in this year’s Small Business Champion program underscores how businesses are critically engaged with us and, more importantly, with their respective communities,” said Sarah Lindstrom, Head of Business Banking, Citizens. “We’re pleased this year to again offer the opportunity to support and strengthen small business success, as well as economic vitality in the expanded Citizens geography, and congratulate all the winners on their achievements.”

For more information about the program, the 2023 winners and their proposed initiatives, please visit https://www.citizensbank.com/businesschampion.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $222.3 billion in assets as of March 31, 2023. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,400 ATMs and approximately 1,200 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

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