Communities Use Coronavirus Relief Fund to Assist Local Businesses Affected by COVID-19 Restrictions
Utilizing grant monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, one of McGill’s long-established clients, Rowan County, sought to provide economic support to small businesses and restaurants affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency, specifically those brick-and-mortar businesses that were not deemed “essential” during the Governor’s Stay at Home order. In the first round of this program, Rowan County provided grants in the amount of $3,500 to $5,000, depending on number of employees, to small businesses to reimburse the cost of business interruption caused by the required closures.
Small Business Grant Program Helps to Keep Doors Open
Rowan County requested the help of McGill to review submitted applications and determine the eligibility of applicants for these small grants. McGill played a small role in this program, working towards the goal of assisting those businesses impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. To be eligible, applicants had to be a for-profit business, in business prior to 2020, and still operational, as well as to have employed no more than 25 employees, paid all applicable taxes to Rowan County, and not filed for bankruptcy in the last 3 years. McGill’s team of grant administrators collected and reviewed all supplemental documentation required to approve the 77 eligible businesses that received grant funding.
Rowan County focused these grant funds on brick-and-mortar businesses. After the shut down on March 25, 2020, these businesses could no longer operate, but they still had to pay rent. Even though these are private businesses, many serve as community spaces between work and home where we routinely gather—coffee shops, dance studios, beauty salons, restaurants, and resale shops to name a few. Rowan County’s efforts helped these businesses remain open.
“Oh my gosh, it’s such a blessing. It keeps us afloat, helps us to help our employees…definitely a blessing,” Denise Broom, a partner in Southern Style Catering and Event Planning, professed to WBTV about the grant program and how it helped her business.
After the success of the first round of funding, the County reopened the grant to restaurants employing 26 employees or more. McGill also managed this second round of funding, which resulted in a number of additional funding distributions to many of the applicants from the first round that were deemed ineligible due to the employee restrictions. McGill is happy to provide these types of grant services for our clients, as well as engineering support for grant applications and grant administration of state and federal grants.
More Success Stories
Some communities have used the Coronavirus Relief Fund to prevent or reduce furloughs of local government employees, equip employees with personal protective equipment, and create testing sites. Other communities also used the funding to help small businesses. The Town of Thomasville allocated a third of its grant allocation to provide support to minority-owned businesses, utilizing the Piedmont Regional Council to manage the grant and approve 40 businesses. View other success stories here.
Grant Administration Services
To learn more about McGill’s grant administration services, visit our consulting services page or contact our team by emailing info@mcgillassociates.com. You can also read how McGill secured over $11 million in funding in the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) fall 2020 round for 8 communities. Let us help you get funding for your next project!