A second round of grant money is available for Franklin County small businesses. Applications reopen Monday, April 11 at 9 a.m. for the Columbus-Franklin County Small Business Recovery Fund.
The fund will provide an additional $8 million in grants to help minority-owned, veteran-owned, underserved and disadvantaged small business owners in Franklin County and Columbus impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program will provide relief for small businesses and help them regain stability with funding for:
- Maintaining operations as well as employees
- Maintaining safe operating procedures
- Mitigating financial hardship due to loss of sales
- Seeking out and also taking advantage of business growth opportunities
- Providing funding to small businesses in order to hire and train new employees
- Providing funding in order to re-hire previously lost positions
Recovery grants are set in three tiers: $5,000, $10,000, and $10,000+.
The $5,000 grant will be offered to self-employed, single entity, sole proprietors, or sole member limited liability companies with no W2 employees.
The $10,000 grants will be available to small business owners who currently employ one full-time W2 employee in addition to the owner. Those businesses that qualify for the $10,000 grant will also be eligible for the $10,000+ grant.
The $10,000+ grants will be available to business owners who meet the $10,000 grant requirements and show loss of employees due to COVID impact. Job Restoration Grants can also provide businesses an additional $10,000 for re-hiring one full-time W2 employee.
Eligible businesses are for-profit entities that have been operational since March 17, 2020 with 25 of fewer full-time employees.
Businesses are encouraged to apply as soon as the application opens. The application will close after 500 submissions.
For more on eligibility requirements and to apply, visit sbdccolumbus.com.
