Lehi Business
Utah County offers $15 million in grants to struggling small businesses
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so do challenging times for some businesses and industries. With state and local restrictions dramatically impacting many small businesses, relief may now be available for those in Utah County.
With the signing of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability Act (CARES Act) by President Donald Trump in March, many Americans received $1,200 stimulus checks to help keep households afloat. The CARES Act also funded an additional $600 per week for unemployed citizens.
Along with individual help, the CARES Act also created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which was designed to provide businesses several months of support to maintain payroll and save jobs through a forgivable loan. Many businesses accepted the PPP support and were able to continue operation, but that wasn’t the case for all.
Utah County is now offering a Small Business Grant Program for businesses in the County who were not able to receive PPP funds or other government aid during the last five months. The program is also being funded by the CARES Act and the $15 million in available funds are being administered by Utah County.
Funding through the grant program will be available to businesses with 100 employees or less and includes sole proprietors. The grant program will provide between $1,000 to $20,000 per business, depending on the number of employees as of March 1, 2020.
Each application must expressly demonstrate a significant impact due to COVID-19 to receive funding from the program. Businesses will need to provide documentation showing a financial loss of at least $5,000 or 15% loss of profit between March 16 and June 30, 2020.
Grant money may be used to pay; payroll, rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance and/or inventory.
Program details and funding will be determined by the Utah County COVID-19 Economic Recovery Committee, which consists of Lehi Mayor Mark Johnson, Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, American Fork Mayor Brad Frost, Cedar Hills Mayor Jenny Rees, Payson Mayor Bill Wright, Spanish Fork Mayor Steve Leifson and Utah County Commissioner Nathan Ivie.
Applications will open on August 3, 2020, at midnight and close on August 10, 2020, at 11:59 p.m.
More details may be found at http://www.ucgrants.org/
