Augusta’s COVID-19 Small Business Relief Program has provided $819,250 in federal money to 118 businesses and created an equal number of new jobs, according to the city’s Housing and Neighborhood Development Director Hawthorne Welcher.
Some $380,750 remains to be allocated with 530 applications in process, Welcher told members of the Augusta Commission administrative services committee Tuesday.
MORE: Applications Still Open for Small Business Relief Grants
Welcher presented a response to commissioners’ concerns about the application process. The presentation was intended to address the complaints two businessmen made during the public comment portion of last week’s Augusta Commission meeting. They said they found the process too complicated.
Welcher said the application process takes between two-and-a-half and three hours and has 14 “asks,” with the first four being requirements of the city’s procurement process for new vendors and documentation that the businesses currently exist. Melcher’s department staff provide assistance in filling out the applications, he added.
Once the application is approved, it takes from ten to 15 days to be signed off on by the mayor, Welcher said.
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Potential applicants may go to www.augustasmallbusinessrelief.com for information.
Commissioner Sammie Sias praised Welcher for expending funds the right way.
“Some business owners want relief funds, but if they don ‘t qualify, they can’t get it,” Sias said.
Welcher also gave commissioners an update on the COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program that came online in March.
MORE: Augusta’s Government is Recovering from COVID-19 Financial Woes
So far, 1,029 individuals and 382 households have received $609,596 of $794,421 committed, Welcher said.
Part of the housing department’s role in the rental assistance program is to ensure the rental houses and apartments applicants who are applying for funds are living in are “decent, safe and sanitary,” Welcher said.
Sylvia Cooper is a Correspondent with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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