The Associated Industries of Massachusetts Foundation (AIMF) has received a $150,000 grant from The Cummings Foundation to expand AIM’s economic-inclusion efforts.

AIMF plans to use the grant to broaden its AIM Business Connect initiative that matches small businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans and members of the LGBTQ community with AIM members seeking to diversify their supply chains.

The grant will also fund marketing support for those companies, support that will include training in data analytics and the creation of data-driven marketing campaigns.

“The AIM Foundation is deeply grateful to the Cummings Foundation for including our work in its $30 million grant program for 2025. We are honored to be counted among scores of recipients doing outstanding work to make Massachusetts a great place to live and work,” said Brooke Thomson, President of AIMF and CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

The Cummings Foundation, created in 1986 by real estate executive Bill Cummings and Joyce Cummings, has awarded nearly $600 million in grants to non-profit organizations based in greater Boston. It seeks to provide money to mostly local charities that are working to improve the lives of community members through education, healthcare, human services, and social-justice programs.

Bill and Joyce Cummings have, over the years, donated the large majority of Cummings Properties commercial property to the Foundation. Today, nearly all the buildings managed by Cummings Properties are owned by and operated for the sole benefit of Cummings Foundation.

AIM recognized Bill and Joyce Cummings and the Cummings Foundation in 2018 with the Vision Award for contributions to the Massachusetts economy.

The AIM Foundation maintains an inclusive vision of economic growth in which every business in the commonwealth has access to the resources it needs to compete and share in the economic prosperity of the state. The Foundation has prioritized the growth of businesses run by people from underrepresented communities as part of a series of commitments to equity made in the wake of the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Established in 2022, AIM Business Connect now includes more than 150 minority owned companies ranging from technology startups to caterers. AIM works privately to match requests for proposals from purchasers with companies that can become a valuable part of the supply chain.

AIMF’s goals for the Cummings Grant are the addition of 200 entrepreneur participants to AIM Business Connect during the next three years and participation from the procurement teams of 100 AIM member businesses. AIMF plans up to 10 matchmaking events to bring together these small companies with established businesses.

Behind all of AIMF’s activities is the belief that the creation of a job and a person’s ability to do it weaves together every important aspect of social and economic stability – the desire for a better life, the ability to support a family, the confidence to start a business, and the need to support efficient govern­ment management of services such as education, health care, and public safety.

“The AIM Foundation believes that business must be a positive force for change in creating a better, more prosperous world. The role of business is more than bottom lines. The role of business is to increase value for society and be a force for positive change,” Thomson said.