Grant program gets 1,500 requests in 6 hours

Application process closed after one day

NORRISTOWN » When Montgomery County announced that it would accept applications for grants for small businesses impacted by the spread of the coronavirus, officials knew there would be a big response.

Within 90 minutes of applications being accepted April 8, more than 600 applications had been received, prompting the county to announce that it would stop accepting applications for the program by 5:30 p.m. that same day.

According to Montgomery County Commissioners Vice Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr., by the time the acceptance period ended last Wednesday, 1,500 applications had been submitted — requesting a total of $33 million. The program has a maximum of $1 million in grants to award.

The response did not come as a surprise, according to Lawrence.

“Businesses are struggling and there is a lot of need out there, which we expected. Now the staff is going through the applications —making sure they are complete — and that we have gotten all the information required,” Lawrence said Tuesday.”

The MontcoStrong Small Business Grant Program made $1 million available to provide grants of up to $25,000 to eligible small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The purpose of the small business grants is to provide businesses in the county with financial support as relief due to disruptions caused by the

COVID-19 global pandemic.

The program is being administered in partnership with the Montgomery County Commerce Department and the Redevelopment Authority of Montgomery County.

Lawrence said the county wants to get the review process completed as quickly as possible, because receiving one of the grants could make the difference for some small businesses.

“We hope by the end of the month to begin awarding the grants. This can make or break some of the businesses and mean the difference on whether they can continue operating,” he said.

“In an ideal world we would have had more time to promote it. But we had to move fast. We wanted to do something for businesses. We know there is a tremendous need. This is really a drop in the bucket, but it could make the difference.” — Montgomery County Commissioners Vice Chairman Ken Lawrence

Applications were received from some ineligible businesses, including some with more than 50 employees, from outside Montgomery County or 501(c)(3) organizations, which were not eligible for the program, according to the commissioner.

Applications were received from businesses in all 63 municipalities in Montgomery County, Lawrence said, adding that many of the applicants asked for more than the $25,000 maximum grant.

Lawrence said 15 area chambers of commerce had been notified about the program as well as direct communication with businesses. But he added there were some businesses that reported they hadn’t heard about the program.

Lawrence added that the county is looking to see if it can identify funding for a round two of the program.

Applicants that are awarded grants will be notified. However, according to the website for the MontcoStrong Small Business Grant Program, “… updates on application status will not be provided otherwise due to the amount of applications received and per the program guidelines.”

The grant funding can be used for: rent or mortgage payments, payroll expenses, utility costs and debt service payments (credit cards and loans) from March 23-July 31.

To be eligible, businesses were required to have a physical location in the county, be in operation one or before March 23 and identified as being impacted by economic disruptions caused by the spread of coronavirus or forced to close as a result of Gov. Tom Wolf’s March 23 order relating to “nonlife sustaining business.”