COVID-19 small business grants available
Local businesses close as revenue losses continue
Yolo County has set aside $750,000 in CARES Act funding for a new COVID-19 Small Business Grant Program to help mitigate the financial effects of the pandemic on local businesses, the county announced Friday.
According to a statement from county officials, the program aims to provide financial assistance to Yolo County for-profit small businesses — located in the unincorporated and incorporated areas of the county — with a maximum of 25 full-time employees.
“One of the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis has been our small businesses, the backbone of our local economy,” Chairman of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors Gary Sandy stated. “Beset by closures and the need to often retool their operations these businesses have displayed great ingenuity and resiliency.”
Business with one to 10 full-time employees can apply for up to $500 per fulltime employee, with up to a maximum of $5,000 received in funding. Businesses that operate with 11 to 25 full-time employees can apply for up to $500 per full-time employee, with up to a maximum of $10,000 received in aid.
In order to be eligible for the funding, businesses must have an active business license and need to have operated out of a physical location in the county for at least a year.
Applicants may also apply for grant funds to reimburse the business costs related to the pandemic, but expenses must be documented and have incurred between March 1 and the date of the grant application.
Some of these eligible expenses include innovation to promote outdoor business, payroll/employee retention, purchase of Personal Protective Equipment, rent or mortgage payments made during mandatory pandemic-related closures of indoor operations and increasing technology capacity to enable “alternative work arrangements,” like telecommuting.
According to the statement, not all eligible businesses can be assisted due to limited funds.
“In order to ensure equitable distribution of funds across the County, grants will be awarded using a lottery system where a random selection of applications will occur by geographic location,” officials stated.
The amount of funds available for each jurisdiction are based on population:
• City of Davis: $236,000 • City of West Sacramento: $182,000
• City of Woodland: $206,000
• City of Winters and unincorporated Yolo County: $126,000
The program comes as local businesses struggle to stay afloat, with some even closing their doors for good.
Bella Bean Coffee in the heart of downtown Woodland announced earlier this week that Friday would be its final day of operation, citing losses in sales and customers caused by the pandemic.
“Since March, businesses have been maneuvering and following ever-changing protocols by Federal, State and local County mandates; to include stay at home orders and months of no dinein operations, severely hurting local small businesses,” a Thursday morning post on Bella Bean’s Facebook page states.
Similarly, A Well Stocked Home on First Street is closing Saturday as a result of revenue losses related to the pandemic. Owners report seeing as much as an 86% decrease in sales.
More closures may happen as COVID-19 case numbers remain high across the state. In Yolo County, officials are reporting 2,721 cases, with 11 new cases reported Thursday. To date, 53 people have died and 181 have been hospitalized as a result of the pandemic.
The county remains in the purple tier, the most restrictive, with widespread risk of COVID-19 activity.
Applicants for the small business grant program may submit applications online beginning Sept. 28 at 9 a.m. until Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. All required documentation must be uploaded and submitted with the application online and no physical applications will be accepted.