Local businesses to share $4M in COVID-19 aid
Mayor Tom Barrett said Thursday that more than 400 local businesses will share about $4 million in federal aid to help them recover from the economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds are part of the Milwaukee Restart Program, which was announced on May 28 by the Department of City Development. The initiative is designed to help businesses adapt to the pandemic and recover from financial losses associated with it. Applications for the funding closedFriday.
The grants can be used to “add social distancing modifications, to purchase personal protective equipment and to restock perishable inventory,” Barrett said during a Zoom meeting Thursday.
Restart is funded by the federal CARES Act, the national economic relief bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in March.
Qualifying businesses were required to have 20 or fewer full-time employees, to have been operating for more than six months and to have 2019 revenue of less than $2 million. Owners could apply for up to $15,000 in aid, although many of the awards were smaller than that.
“We wanted to make sure if they made a mistake on their application that they weren’t just turned away because they might have filled something in wrong,” said Natanael Martinez, the commercial corridor manager at the Department of City Development.
“Over 40% of the applicants for restart grants reportedly were minorityowned. Also, over 40% said they were women-owned,” Barrett said. “We wanted to make sure that there was equity in this, and we believe we’ve achieved that.”
All 16 aldermanic districts had at least six businesses that received grants. The recipients varied widely and included bookstores, a funeral home and ice cream parlors.
Johanna Ortiz, owner of Johanna’s Cakes & Desserts Cafe, was present during the meeting on Thursday. Her shop, which opened last October, was hit hard by the shutdown. Because her cafe is small, she will use the funds to provide outdoor seating.
“That’s just a great boost to help us come back,” Ortiz said.