City of Vista’s Small Business COVID-19 Grant Program

The City of Vista has allocated $2.7M to fund a Small Business COVID-19 Grant Program (Grant Program) which will be administered by the Vista Chamber.

Donor Name: Vista Chamber of Commerce

State: California

City: Vista

Type of Grant: Grant

Type of Entity: Business

Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 05/15/2023

Size of the Grant: $1,000 to $25,000

Details:

The Grant Program is created to provide flexible grant assistance to small Vista businesses who have experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grant funds will be awarded to for profit businesses who qualify for funding based on select criteria and can demonstrate financial loss through a Profit and Loss Statement or can document how their proposed prospective activities will assist them in recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Applicants must meet one of the qualifications in the three tiers below in order to be considered for emergency grant funds.

Tier 1
- Independently owned businesses located in Vista that opened prior to March 15, 2020
- Have been mandated by government action or decree to close or significantly alter their business activity due to COVID-19.
- Business license documentation is required.
Tier 2
- Independently owned businesses located in Vista that opened after March 15, 2020
- Have been mandated by government action or decree to close or significantly alter their business activity due to COVID – 19.
- Business license documentation is required.
- OR
  - Independently owned businesses located in Vista
  - Demonstrate that their businesses have been significantly affected by government action or decree but have not been ordered to alter business practices other than requirements related to reducing occupancy and observing social distancing.
  - Business license documentation is required.
- OR
  - Independently owned businesses located in Vista
  - Demonstrate that their businesses have been significantly affected by government action or decree and can demonstrate that the use of the funds will assist them with recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  - Business license documentation is required.
Tier 3
- Businesses that are located in Vista
- Home-based or are part of a national and/or regional franchise with local ownership and have been mandated by government action or decree to close or significantly alter their business activity due to COVlD-19.
- Business license documentation is required.

Funding Information

Grants ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 will be factored using the grant application, applicants’ proposed use of grant funds, business tiers, and financial impact reports.

Eligibility Criteria

Independently owned, for-profit businesses located in Vista that have been mandated by government action or decree to close or significantly alter their business activity due to COVID-19 are eligible to apply for and receive grant funds. Businesses that received a grant through any previous COVID-19 grant program can apply to receive additional funds; however, businesses that have not received previous grant funds will have priority. No business with more than 100 full-time equivalent employees is eligible for this program and those with 20 or fewer employees will have preference. Businesses must be open to the general public of all ages without restrictions.
Businesses are required to indicate if they previously received a grant for losses incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from whom the grant was awarded, the amount of the award, and how much of the business’s losses were covered by the grant. Businesses are required to state their number of full-time equivalent employees.
Bonus points will be awarded for businesses belonging to underserved small business groups. Underserved small business groups” includes women, minorities (people of color), or veteran-owned businesses where the majority (at least 51 percent) of the business is owned and run on a daily basis by said group(s).

Award Determination Scoring Matrix