|
BOSTON - Tuesday, January 18, 2022
- Building on her commitment to supporting small businesses during the
ongoing pandemic, Mayor Michelle Wu today announced that the City of Boston
will replenish the Small Business Relief Fund 2.0 with $5 million. These
funds will help support an additional 300 local, small businesses across
Boston as they continue their recovery. The City is also partnering with
business service organizations to provide technical assistance and
long-term planning support to small businesses beyond the grant. Following
City Council approval, applications would become available in early
February.
“Our small businesses are still struggling
from this prolonged pandemic and need continued support. I’m grateful to
Chief Idowu and our state and community partners for working quickly to
identify potential resources for neighborhood small businesses as we work
to build a thriving, inclusive and equitable economy,” said Mayor
Michelle Wu. “The fund’s grants and technical assistance will help
small business owners continue to serve their communities and plan ahead as
we work to end the ongoing COVID surge.”
“These funds provided the much needed
support for our small businesses to not only aid in their recovery, but
invest in their long-term growth,” said Segun Idowu, Chief of
Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. “Replenishing these funds is an
important step in ensuring that our businesses are able to keep their doors
open as we recover from the pandemic and rebuild our economy.”
The Small Business Relief Fund is designed
to help businesses cover expenses to help their recovery and assist
businesses that seek to grow beyond the pandemic. The replenishment of SBRF
2.0 will reopen applications for the Small Business Relief Fund initially
launched in April 2020 and relaunched in
September 2021.
To date, the Small Business Relief Fund has issued more than $7.5 million
in grants to 519 businesses. Since April 2020, the City of Boston has
issued more than $28.6 million in grants to more than 5,600
businesses.
Businesses will be able to apply for two
types of grants.
· Relief Grant: up to $10,000 to support
outstanding debts for rent/mortgage payments, inventory, payroll, or fixed
expenses.
· Growth Grant: up to $10,000 to support
business growth through tools, technology, materials, personnel, or other
costs associated with investing in the growth of their business.
“I would like to thank Mayor Michelle Wu
and the entire City of Boston Small Business Team for their commitment to
support businesses such as mine over the last two years,” said Chef
Olrie Roberts, owner of ZaZ Restaurant. “Unfortunately, COVID is still
plaguing our community and the effects of the pandemic are still taking a
toll on restaurants. As ZaZ looks toward celebrating 10 years of serving
the Hyde Park and Greater Boston communities this year, continued financial
support will help to alleviate operational pressures such as rent,
utilities, and supply costs that can not be controlled with fluctuating
dine-in customers and canceled catering events until we have some semblance
of normalcy.”
“We are grateful to the City of Boston for
providing grant support to small businesses like ours that will help us
stay open while we face the COVID-19 Omicron wave,” said Hector
Plaza, Owner and Head Coach at Red City Fitness. “It will also allow us
to invest in a stronger marketing strategy that will help our business
grow.”
The City of Boston is working with State
officials to coordinate our grant processes so small businesses potentially
have access to both local and state grant funds. Additionally, the City is
working with
external partners like Small Business Strong and other business service
organizations to set up a system that will connect interested small
businesses with wrap-around technical assistance to provide long term
support beyond the grant.
“Collaborating with the State and pairing
the grants with technical assistance will leverage greater impact for
businesses that need support, and strengthen Boston’s small business
ecosystem,” said Karen Kelleher, Executive Director of LISC Boston,
which serves as program manager for Small Business Strong.
“Small Business
Strong is excited to
work with Mayor Wu and her team to connect applicants for funding with high
quality small business support from local providers and industry experts,”
said Yvonne Garcia, Manager of Small Business Strong and Chief of
Staff to Chairman and CEO and Global Head of Internal Communications, State
Street.
Applications will become available online
at boston.gov/small-business in early February. Businesses can
apply for one or both grants. All applicants must apply through the City’s
Knack portal at bostonopendata.knack.com/small-business-grants.
For more information and details, sign up
for our small business newsletter at https://www.boston.gov/small-business.
|
沒有留言:
發佈留言