A ‘jump start’ for small business
Williamsburg, York, Poquoson businesses can get relief grants
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted small business owners across the country, including the Pryor family in Yorktown.
Jill Pryor and her husband Randy have owned and operated Patriot Tours & Provisions in Riverwalk Landing for about a decade. They offer guided Segway tours and kayak, paddleboard and bicycle rentals, and they sell souvenirs and gifts at their retail store on Water Street.
Business has been steady at Patriot Tours & Provisions, and in the past two weeks the Pryors are starting to see more out-ofstate customers, according to Jill Pryor.
“It’s been steady. Not super busy, but busy enough to stay open (and) busy enough to keep our staff employed,” she said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Patriot Tours & Provisions opened for the season March 1 before closing its doors just a few weeks later because of the pandemic. The Pryors resumed business Memorial Day weekend in May with limited retail hours after losing roughly two months’ worth of revenue from the closure.
“It’s like the whole season just got shifted forward two months,” Pryor said.
Fortunately, their business is one of many in York, Williamsburg and Poquoson that have found assistance through the regional COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Assistance Program. This Virginia Community Development Block Grant supports small businesses with 20 employees or fewer in the three localities. The program provides up to $5,000 for costs businesses have incurred since March to meet state requirements during the pandemic.
Pryor said they received the full $5,000 grant about a week ago and that the majority of that funding was used to cover four months worth of rent for their Water Street storefront. They also used the funds to update the point-of-sale system in their store for paperless and contactless credit card payments, and also to buy more masks and hand sanitizer.
The grant money has allowed the Pryors to save their own money to purchase new merchandise for the upcoming holiday season, including seasonal flags and T-shirts and sweatshirts emblazoned with Yorktown designs. Pryor said they’re grateful for the grant funding and the support of local residents during the summer.
“It’s been a challenging year for everyone, but I think things are improving,” she said.
Toni Chavis, owner of the York County-based home improvement business TTC Enterprises LLC, also received funding through the small business grant last month. Chavis said the funding was used to purchase more personal protective equipment for his contractors, as well as other needed supplies for cleaning measures in customers’ homes. The money has also helped them change the way they operate.
“It has helped us a lot with being able to change how we advertise our business, and how we explain to our customers what we have done differently to be able to service them and take care of them,” Chavis said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Before Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order in March, TTC Enterprises would meet clients in their homes to discuss the remodeling and design work they wanted. Chavis and her team had to start only interacting with their clients virtually due to the pandemic, such as with video calls on smartphones and tablet computers.
This virtual approach has now become the standard for TTC Enterprises, along with the necessary cleaning and social distancing precautions on the job site. The grant funding that they received has helped cover the costs of updating their website and improving their software for these virtual purposes.
“It really helped us in being able to have the funds to make those adjustments and changes,” Chavis said. “After going through a period of time when your income has stopped, you need a way to be able to jump start and move forward, and it was really helpful from that perspective.
Williamsburg, York County and Poquoson received $1.23 million in CDBG grant funding from the Virginia Department of
Housing for this regional program. Of this total, $500,000 was allocated specifically for Williamsburg businesses, $500,000 for York businesses and $150,000 for Poquoson businesses, based on how many businesses are expected to apply for these grants in each locality. York County is the grant administrator and fiscal agent for the program, and the remaining $80,000 was set aside to cover administrative costs.
According to Melissa Davidson, assistant director for York County Economic Development ,78 different York County small businesses have received $357,661 in grant funding through the program as of Oct. 7. There are also 57 businesses in Williamsburg that have received about $263,172 in total funding, and 28 businesses in Poquoson, totaling $137,700.
York County Economic Development Director Jim Noel said that these grants have been “very valuable” to small, local businesses that need help covering the expenses of operating during a pandemic.
“While ($5,000) doesn’t sound like a lot of money, that can be a make it or break it number for some small businesses,” Noel said.
Dean Canavos, owner of Capitol Pancake House on Capitol Landing Road in Williamsburg, received the full $5,000 in grant funding last month. The Capitol Pancake House has benefited from the support of loyal customers during the pandemic, but Canavos said this grant funding helps cover the fixed costs that can hurt restaurants most when sales decline overall.
“When your sales evaporate because of the pandemic, it’s the fixed costs that you’re afraid of,” he said in a phone interview Thursday.
Williamsburg Economic Development Director Michele Mixner DeWitt said restaurants, fitness and dance studios, and many other types of small businesses have been assisted through the grant in the city of Williamsburg alone.
“The grant was designed to specifically be COVID-19 relief, so they’re eligible to get reimbursedfor things like rent relief, PPE purchases and any other expenses they spent to keep operating ,” De Witt said.
According to the Williamsburg Economic Development website, the following costs are reimbursable, but only for purchases made after Gov. Northam’s state of emergency declaration on March 13: personal protective equipment and/or cleaning services or supplies; property improvements or renovations to accommodate social distancing and/ or outdoor dining, recreation, services, etc .; software/ hardware expenses to allow for delivery, online payments, online reservations, etc .; sign age, advertising and marketing expenses to promote that the business is open and/ or operating under modified conditions; and payments for rent or mortgage during times of needed business closure and/or modification.
These grant funds are on a first-come, first-served basis and are available until June 2021. To apply for the grant and to find out more about eligibility requirements, small businesses can visit the Economic Development web pages for each locality. Williamsburg small businesses should go to yeswilliamsburg.com, York businesses to yes yorkcounty.com, and those in Poquoson to ci.poquoson.va.us/253/Economic-Development.