The county will hold two webinars next week to provide information about the second round of the Small Business Rental Assistance grant program, officials announced.
The $2 million program, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 money provided by the federal government, is intended for retail service businesses that meet certain criteria:
- Has its physical location(s) only in the county, or its county-based locations account for more than 50 percent of the business’s total number of employees or 50 percent of the business’s gross sales
- Received $500,000 or less in annual revenue prior to the COVID-19 health crisis
- Is classified as a retail or service-related business, but is not a restaurant or food service business, medical practice, professional services business, religious organization or licensed childcare program
- Has a commercial lease in the county, and
- Can demonstrate a revenue loss due to the health crisis.
The program’s application period will be open Sept. 1 through Sept 30. It can provide a grant of up to three month’s rent based on a current lease, or up to $10,000, whichever is less.
The webinars will be Tuesday, Aug. 16, and Friday, Aug. 19 and registration, available online, is required. Registration for a Spanish language webinar on Aug. 19 is available here.
“Our retail businesses were hit hard by the pandemic,” County Executive Marc Elrich said in a press release. “We are fortunate to be able to access this federal funding to provide support to these businesses that employ 12 percent of our county’s workforce. I encourage all eligible county retail service establishments to apply for this newest round of grants.”
The program will be administered by the Latino Economic Development Center on behalf of the county, but the funds are available to all eligible businesses including those operated by Asian Americans, African Americans, Blacks, Latinos and others, officials said.
Retail service establishments that received the assistance in 2021 in the first round of funding will not be eligible to receive more funding from the second round of the program.
Questions about the program should be sent to [email protected] or [email protected].
Montgomery County graphic