SANTA CRUZ – The first round of applications for pandemic financial assistance for businesses opened on Dec. 30 and will close on Jan 13.
The California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant will divvy up $500 million amongst small businesses who have been affected by the pandemic. An individual business can be granted between $5,000 and $25,000, depending on its average annual revenue.
“Any grants that come available are going to be a huge help to businesses with their rent, their payroll, just basically operating expenses,” said Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Shaz Roth. “Small businesses especially are really encouraged to apply.”
The grant payout is broken down into three ranges. Businesses that generate between $1,000 and $100,000 of revenue annually qualify for $5,000 of reliefs funds. Businesses that make between 100,000 and $1 million qualify for $15,000 and those that make between $1 million and $2.5 million are eligible for $25,000 in relief.
The grant is available to both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and focuses on regions where pandemic restrictions have greatly impacted businesses as well as underserved communities, according to the relief grant website.
Businesses must meet certain requirements to be eligible for relief funding. They must have begun operations at or before June 1, 2019 and still be in operation or have a clear plan to reopen, according to the website. The business needs to be impacted by the pandemic and its safety regulations.
In Santa Cruz, some businesses were allowed to operate outside, which created new business expenses. However, the recent regional stay-at-home order, which went into effect Dec. 18 and is tentatively over on Friday, put new expenses by the wayside and limited operations even further.
“With the lockdowns, I’d hate to say it but restaurants are getting hit hard. Same with the hairdressers and all of those businesses that are being shut down,” Roth said. That has been very expensive for restaurants specifically with outdoor heating. Just to be shut down again, that’s an expense they can’t recover right away, so applying for these grants is very important again.”
Businesses without a physical California location will not be eligible. Government entities are also not eligible unless they represent a Native American tribe. Churches are also excluded from receiving grant funding, according to the website.
All nonprofits applying for relief funding must be registered under a 601(c)(3), 501(c)(19) or 501(c)(6). Among nonprofits includes local chambers of commerce, which were recently added to grant funding eligibility as 501(c)(6) organizations.
“Nonprofits are hit in a whole different way. The elimination of being able to hold fundraisers has hurt us,” Roth said. “This is the first one that chambers of commerce are eligible for. Up until now we have not been eligible for anything, as well.”
Businesses owners with multiple businesses are only allowed to apply for relief funds once and must apply using their highest revenue business, according to the guidelines.
Businesses or nonprofits seeking relief funding can apply at calreliefgrant.com. They must be able to provide a business certification, their most recent business tax returns, an official filing with the California Secretary of State and a government issued photo ID.
A second round of relief funding will be available after the first round of applications close. Dates for the second round of applications are yet to be determined. Businesses who apply in the first round of applications and are not selected do not need to reapply for the second round.
As the pandemic continues to create an economic burden, more businesses will be in need of financial assistance. Roth urged the public to follow the advice of local health officials so businesses can get back on track and generate steady revenue.
“Stay safe so we can open everything back up again,” she said.
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January 05, 2021 at 07:26AM
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Relief funding available to California small businesses again - Santa Cruz Sentinel
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