Well it's about time.

Benton County Commissioners have finally taken a crowbar to the budget purse strings and coughed up $3.5 million for the CARES Act Community Support Grant Program, which will provide local businesses grant assistance, with NO REPAYMENT REQUIRED.

These are local business grants and they are to be administered by TRIDEC (Tri-City Development Council) and applications for grant funding are now being taken and will remain open until the deadline for a final application on September 25, 2020. Applications and a detailed breakdown of how all of this is going to work can be found online here.

Benton County businesses and non-profits of all sizes are eligible to apply for funding to cover expenses that began occurring on or around March 27, 2020.

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Here are the basic protocols:

Available Grant Amounts:
  • Up to $15,000 – Businesses with less than 20 employees
  • Up to $50,000 – Businesses with 20-99 employees
  • Up to $100,000 – Businesses with 100+ employees
 Grant Application Periods:
  • Round 1: July 16-31
  • Round 2: August 14-28
  • Round 3: September 11-25
 Approval Process:
  • Grantees will be selected from a pool of eligible businesses using a random lottery system.
  • Eligible businesses that were not selected will automatically move to the next round for possible selection.
  • Grantees will receive notification upon selection.
  • Prior to funds being delivered, grantees must sign an agreement with Benton County outlining the terms of funding.

The business must:

  • Be physically located in Benton County.
  • Be owned by a US citizen or permanent resident alien.
  • Have been in operation for one year or longer.
  • Use the grant to maintain or create jobs.
  • Be for profit or non-profit (501C3, 501C6 and 501C19 only).
  • Submit a business license or IRS 501c Determination Letter.
  • Have had to close or reduce capacity to operate based on the Governor’s orders surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Have lost revenue due to COVID-19.

GO!

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