Small Business Relief Grant

Small Business Relief Grant Application

Purpose: The City of Pacific Small Business Relief and Recovery Grant Program is intended to ensure the economic health of the City of Pacific, and thereby improve the public health and welfare for Pacific’s residents. The grant funded allocated hereunder is designed to help small businesses keep their doors open, protect local jobs threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, support community recovery, and increase the resiliency of local businesses in our community.

Through the program, eligible small businesses operating in the City of Pacific have the opportunity to apply for cash assistance to help mitigate the impacts of revenue reductions associated with COVID-19. The City anticipates awarding eligible small businesses with a one-time cash grant of up to $10,000.00, based on justifiable need and business resiliency. For further information, please contact Richard Gould, City Administrator at 253-929-1117 email: [email protected] or Jack Dodge, Community Development Manager at 253-929-1107, email [email protected]

Criteria for Grant Funding:

To be eligible for grant funding, a small business must meet the following criteria:

Business has at least a 25% drop in revenue directly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic
Business has 25 or fewer employees (including the business owner/worker); employee count shall be based on number of employees as of 1/1/2020
Business is licensed to do business in the State of Washington and in the City of Pacific
Business has been in operation for at least one year in the City of Pacific (at time of application)
Business is not facing any pending litigation or legal action
Business is not suspended or debarred from the use of federal funds
Business is physically located in the City of Pacific
Business is not a franchise - unless that franchise is not a subsidiary of a larger corporation and is able to document that it is not a subsidiary
Business is not a chain (unless the majority of locations are located in the City of Pacific)
Business is not restricted to patrons over the age of 18
Businesses in the hardest hit sectors including: restaurant/dining, retail, hospitality, arts and entertainment, and other service sector businesses will be prioritized for funding

Awarded small businesses will only use grant funds for approved, allowable functions as broken down in the following three categories:

Salaries and Benefits - Salaries and Benefits may be used in order to retain staff facing imminent layoff, for owners or leadership who are unable to take a salary due to loss of revenue, or may be used to cover costs associated directly with unplanned COVID-19 related staffing costs such as: staff time training on personal protective equipment (PPE) use, staff time adding safety measures to physical locations, staff time implementing and/or training on virtual business service platforms, staff time updating processes and procedures to allow for safety and social distancing for customer and/or staff, and other such costs.
Facilities - Facilities include payments towards commercial mortgage, utilities, commercial lease, and other such necessary costs required to keep physical locations open and operable through the COVID-19 crisis.
Cost of Goods and General and Administrative Expenses - This category includes, for example, new equipment deeded to assist the business to a temporary digital transition (webcams, software licensing for video conferencing, etc.) as well as other general costs deemed necessary for business operations.

No person or business shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefit of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity funded in whole or in part with the City’s funds on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, sex stereotyping, transgender status, and gender identity), national origin (including limited English proficiency), age, disability, or political affiliation or belief.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of disallowable functions for grant funds:

Paying off non-business debt, such as personal credit cards for purchases not associated with the business
Purchase personal expenses such as buying a new family car or making repairs to a home
Direct financing to political activities or paying off taxes and fines
Purchase of personal items
The purchase of drugs, tobacco, and/or alcohol
Food and entertainment
Bonuses
Travel not associated with direct business operations

Application and Selection Process:

Applications will be accepted between August 5, 2020 and October 2, 2020 and shall be submitted via email to [email protected] . An application form will be available on the City’s website for download (or online completion, if feasible). Costs for developing an application are solely the responsibility of the applicant. All personal and business financial information will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by law. Applicants will be required to provide the following information:

Legal name of business
Unified Business Identifier (UBI)
Business address and date of establishment
Owner/applicant contact information
Industry sector – Provide SIC Code (Standard Industrial Classification)
Number of employees in the City of Pacific as of 1/1/2020
Number of employees in the City of Pacific as of 5/1/2020
A brief description of the business and its products/services
A brief description of how the business has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including an estimate on the revenue impact
An estimate of how many jobs this grant will help the business hire and/or retain, a description for how the funds will help the business remain solvent, and a justification for the amount requested
A breakdown of funds requested based on the three categories listed above: Salaries and Benefits; Facilities; and Cost of Goods and General and Administrative Expenses.
The business must certify that they are not debarred, suspended, otherwise excluded from, or are ineligible for the participation in Federal Assistance programs under Office of Management and Budget 2 CFR Parts 180 and 215. The business must also certify that it will not contract with a subcontractor that is debarred or suspended.

Awards will be made to qualified small businesses applicants on a first come, first serve basis, and through the execution of an Agreement between the grant recipient and the City. Awards will be provided in a one-time cash payment. Awarded small businesses will be, through the Agreement, required to report on expenditures and outcomes through a one-time end of program report that contains the following information:

How the funds were utilized
How funds helped the business survive and/or grow
How many employees were retained
How many employees were hired
How the funds affected revenue generation