Second Round Of Grants Open To Small Business Owners Affected By Covid-19

If you own a small business and missed out on applying for grants to help you out due to impacts of Covid-19, Snohomish County just announced a second round of funding.

Round two grants now being accepted.

On Friday, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers announced the second round of the Small Business Relief, Recovery, and Resiliency (R3) Grant Program. This grant program is a key part of the relief and recovery action Snohomish County is taking to help businesses impacted by the pandemic. This grant program is part of the package of COVID-19 responses funded by CARES Act resources.

 “We know that our small businesses and their workers have been hurting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Executive Somers. “Getting these resources directly into the hands of small businesses has been a very high priority for Snohomish County. As we transition into future phases of opening, we want to make sure our businesses are healthy and able to keep their staff employed.”

“We know that our business community has been struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, and we want them to know the county is doing all we can to help,” said Snohomish County Council Chair Nate Nehring. “We will continue to pursue every possible avenue to keep our businesses financially healthy.”

The application process for the second round of the R3 Grant Program is now open. Applicants can visit www.workforcesnohomish.org for details and application materials. Applicants can also request a direct link to the application and instructions by sending an email to requestgrant@workforcesnohomish.org. It is anticipated that it will take most businesses less than 30 minutes to apply.  It is also anticipated awards will made within five weeks of application. Grants in amounts up to $25,000 will be awarded to qualifying businesses. Businesses applying for grants under this program must:

·       Be licensed to do business in the State of Washington.

·       Be a business physically located in Snohomish County.

·       Have 20 or fewer employees (including the business owner/worker).

·       Be in operation for one or more years.

·       Certify at least a 25% reduction in revenue attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

·       Able to demonstrate that the business was a going concern before March 23, 2020.

Economic and unemployment data for Snohomish County provides insight about our hardest hit businesses. The focus of this grant program is on small businesses that are critical to supporting our community’s broad-based recovery. Priority will be given to dining, retail, hospitality, arts and entertainment, and service sector establishments. Minority, women and veteran owned businesses are encouraged to apply.

Funding is intended to support business sustainability through the COVID-19 public health emergency. The funds received must be used to cover expenses that have not been previously accounted for and are incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020.

This is the second round of the R3 grant. The first round closed on June 4, 2020 and expects to announce awards on June 24, 2020. Those applicants from the first round that are not selected for award by June 24, 2020 will automatically be considered in this second round of funding.

These proposed programs add to the actions Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers has implemented to support businesses and workers, including:

·       Establishment of two grant programs for businesses and workers.

·       Launch of a Blue Ribbon Economic and Workforce Recovery Taskforce and District Advisory Groups

·       Creation of the Office of Economic Recovery and Resiliency

·       Establishment of a Response Fund with the Community Foundation of Snohomish County and local partners

·       Extension of a Deadline for Individual Property Taxpayers with County Treasurer Brian Sullivan

The County anticipates announcing a relief program for Snohomish County private non-profit organizations later this year.

Application materials for the grant program are available at www.workforcesnohomish.org. Applicants can also request a direct link to the application and instructions by sending an email to requestgrant@workforcesnohomish.org.

Questions about the application should be directed to Workforce Snohomish at snocogrant@workforcesnohomish.org.

For more general information, please go to https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/5600/COVID-19-Business-Recovery, the County’s comprehensive page for residents and small businesses impacted by COVID-19.