By Margaret Woodard, Downtown Development Authority
Applications are still being accepted for Augusta-Richmond County Small Business Relief Grants. On January 6, 2020, the city allocated $1.6 million to qualifying small businesses who have suffered financial loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
114 grants have been approved to date and applications will be accepted until all funding is exhausted. Approximately $800,000 is remaining in funding. Applications may be completed at this website: https://portal.neighborlysoftware.com/augusta/Participant.
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For businesses with 1-20 employees, up to $7500 could be awarded. For businesses with 21-100 employees, up to $15,000 could be awarded.
There are numerous eligibility requirements that must be met.
Businesses must demonstrate the retention (or creation) of at least one full time employment opportunity for a low or moderate income resident of Augusta-Richmond County.
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The business must have a current City of Augusta business license, and can demonstrate business interruption and revenue loss as a result of COVID-19. They also must certify that grant funds will be used to reimburse authorized business expenses.
As a result of an awarded grant, the business must resume normal operations after emergency guidelines are lifted, and will cooperate with officials for grant auditing purposes. They must also commit to recommended COVID-19 safety guidelines put forth by local, state and federal authorities.
A qualified business has to have been open a minimum of one year prior to March 1, 2020, and no owner, officer, partner or principal of the business can have a felony conviction for financial mismanagement within the last three years for which he or she is still serving a sentence (including prison, parole and probation).
Additionally, qualified businesses can not be publicly traded, partially owned by a hedge fund or a corporate-owned franchise, or have any current city, county, state or federal tax liens.
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A qualified business can not have any current unpaid code enforcement liens and is not operating in violation of any state, federal or local laws.
David Long, owner of 2nd City Distilling Company and recent recipient of the grant said, “It was a fairly easy process and allowed us to maintain our regular payroll in a month that we may have had to trim staff.”
He added, “It took us about 3 hours to complete and was well worth the time based on the grant award.”
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Small businesses are the backbone of Augusta. If you own a small business, please consider applying for the grant. As Augusta recovers from the pandemic, it is vitally important for our small business community to recover as well.
For more information, visit www.augustasmallbusinessrelief.com
For the registration and application link, please visit https://portal.neighborlysoftware.com/augusta/Participant
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