Applicants are invited to apply for the Small Business Grant Program to support businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic and related economic impacts, such as required business closures, health and safety improvements, hiring/ retention issues, supply chain issues, and inflation.
Donor Name: Montgomery County Government
State: Pennsylvania
County: Montgomery County (PA)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/30/2023
Size of the Grant:$20,000
Details:
A total of $2,650,000 is available for the Small Business Grant Program Focused on Minority, Women, and Veteran-Owned Businesses. The grant program is intended to ensure that businesses with less historic access to capital are supported, such as businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged groups, and therefore the Recovery Office has a goal of allocating 60% of available funds to these groups.
The grant program will provide cash grants to qualifying businesses in Montgomery County which are either located in a qualifying community of Pottstown or Norristown, or can show a financial loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged groups are especially encouraged to apply due to the disproportionate impacts on these businesses, where pre-existing disparities like lack of access to capital compounded the pandemic’s effects.
- Socially and economically disadvantaged groups may include:
- Minorities
- Women
- Veterans
- Persons identifying as LGBTQIA+
- Immigrants
- Persons with limited English proficiency
- Persons with disabilities
- Business owners that do not fall into one of these categories are not prohibited from applying or receiving funds.
Allowable Uses for Grant Funds
Up to $20,000 in cash grant funds are available per business. Grants will be made in a one-time lump sum payment.
- Grant amounts will be determined based on the business’s demonstrated financial impacts and/or annual operating revenue.
- Grant funds may be used for:
- Payroll and benefits, costs to retain employees, and mortgage, rent, utility, and other operating costs
- Technical assistance, counseling, or other services to support business planning
- Businesses in qualifying census tracts in Norristown and Pottstown may also use funds for rehabilitation of commercial properties, storefront improvements, and façade improvements
Criteria
Businesses must have fewer than 50 full and part-time employees and under $500,000 in annual gross revenue, and otherwise qualify as a small business under the Small Business Act (which includes, among other requirements, that the business is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field of operation)
- Businesses must have filed at least one tax return and be in operation as of October 1, 2022. New businesses are not eligible.
- Businesses must have a physical location in Montgomery County and be registered to operate in the state of Pennsylvania.
There are three grant program options available:
- Streamlined Grant Program for Norristown/ Pottstown Businesses
- Businesses with a physical location in qualifying census tracts (most of Norristown and Pottstown) are eligible for
- grant funds up to $10,000 through a streamlined process.
- Businesses do not need to provide documentation of financial impact due to the pandemic but must meet the basic eligibility.
- To qualify, businesses must submit their most recently filed tax return and still be in operation as of 11/1/22.
- If the business’s most recently reported net revenue is lower than $10,000, their grant award will be equal to their reported net revenue.
- Impacted Businesses (any location within Montgomery County)
- All qualifying businesses located in Montgomery County are eligible for grant funds up to $20,000 so long as they can demonstrate a financial impact to their business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could include:
- Decreased revenue or gross receipts
- Financial insecurity
- Increased costs
- Capacity to weather financial hardship
- Challenges covering payroll, rent or mortgage, and other operating costs
- Businesses must be able to show a net revenue loss for the fiscal year 2020 OR fiscal year 2021, compared to the fiscal year 2019. If this documentation is not available, other submitted documentation must show a net revenue loss to the business directly as a result of the pandemic or related economic impacts.
- This grant is available to any business that meets the small business eligibility defined for this program, in any location in the County. Businesses in Norristown and Pottstown are eligible to apply for this grant program instead of the “streamlined” program if they can demonstrate losses greater than $10,000.
- If the business’s financial losses are greater than or equal to $20,000, grant awards will be $20,000. Otherwise, grant awards will be for the amount of the reported financial loss.
- All qualifying businesses located in Montgomery County are eligible for grant funds up to $20,000 so long as they can demonstrate a financial impact to their business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could include:
- Restaurant Revitalization Fund Rescinded Applications
- The Recovery Office is aware that some restaurants were awarded funds under the 2021 ARPA-funded Small Business Association- Restaurant Revitalization Fund (SBA RRF) whose loans were later rescinded as a result of litigation against the SBA.
- The Recovery Office may be able to make awards available to restaurants located in Montgomery County in this situation given that funds were originally awarded from ARPA and because approved loans were later rescinded through no fault of the business owner.
For more information, visit Small Business Grant.
