Programs offering help to businesses

Various initiatives offer guidance, resources and ideas designed to help make reopening a success story.

For now, the counties of this region remain in the state Department of Health’s red phase of reopening, meaning non-life-sustaining businesses are shut down until at least June 4.

However, once counties move into the yellow phase, many more businesses will be allowed to reopen. When coronavirus cases subside, the state may begin moving counties into the green for a full reopening.

In this unprecedented time of pandemic, no one knows for certain what comprises the best path to reopening and recovery. As businesses walk that fine line, we are pleased to see a number of entities providing leadership and assistance.

• Rebuilding Berks is a threepronged initiative introduced this week by the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance to help local businesses prepare for reopening and manage the evolving coronavirus environment.

Jim Gerlach, president and CEO of GRCA, described the effort as “a living, breathing effort because the needs of the county will continue to change.” Rebuilding Berks is described as a roadmap for businesses to plan for reopening and details tools, programs and services to jump start operations.

The website is set up to assist businesses with finding resources for financial aid, workplace readiness and data.

The site also promises to help employers understand and comply with the changing Centers for Disease Control and Protection guidelines as well as state regulations and industry-specific guidelines. The idea, according to Gerlach, is businesses work together and share best practices for safely navigating COVID-19 in the workplace.

• In Delaware County, 1,059 small business owners have applied for the Delco Strong Small Business Support Grant Program. Some of them will start to receive assistance in the next 10 days.

With $1.5 million from the Delaware County Redevelopment Authority’s gaming revenue and $250,000 from the Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund, the program is geared to provide grants of up to $7,500 to small businesses of 50 employees or fewer to cover the costs of rent or mortgage for three months and inventory.

“We are working with our partners ... and really striving to do the right thing for our businesses here and for our Main Streets and for our commercial corridors that we need to keep going and supported during this crisis,” Delaware County Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer said, announcing that a second round of funding will follow.

• In Montgomery County, nearly 3,000 small businesses have applied for $5 million in grant funds under the second round of the MontcoStrong Small Business Grant Program.

“This is nearly double the amount of applications we received in round one. In round one we received 1,520 applications,” county Commissioner Vice Chairman Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr.

Businesses in each of the county’s 62 municipalities applied for grants and 87-percent of the businesses have operated for three or more years, according to Lawrence. Forty-nine percent of the applicants identified as minorityor women-owned business enterprises and 4-percent identified as veteran-owned businesses, Lawrence said. Grants are expected to range between $9,000 and $20,000.

Funding for the $5 million MontcoStrong program is coming from the Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund and federal CARES Act.

• “Shop Small to Win Big” is a grass-roots initiative to keep attention focused on small businesses on the Route 422 corridor of Montgomery and Chester counties.

The initiative, a repeat of an earlier contest, was organized by Chris Lerch, director of marketing for SportsPlex Management Group, which owns the 422 SportsPlex in Pottstown. Lerch came up with the idea to do something to help small business owners that were being affected financially by the spread of the virus.

The program takes gift cards donated by area businesses in the 422 corridor and offers them as a prize for a contest in which entrants make purchases between May 18 and May 24 of at least $50 from participating businesses. The participating businesses saw sales from the receipts totaling $80,309.89 in the first round. That total represents sales the businesses — which are either closed or operating differently than usual — might not have seen otherwise.

The government grant dollars can only go so far to get businesses back on their feet. These programs also offer some guidance, resources and new ideas that will help make reopening a success story, one we can all agree is needed.