RACINE – The City of Racine has launched round two of the Small Business Emergency Fund, which aims to help businesses weather the COVID-19 crisis. The program has been allocated $650,000 to be used for grants. This is in addition to the $250,000 that was distributed in the first round of funding earlier this month.
Small businesses with up to 20 employees, located within the City of Racine, are eligible to apply for grants of up to $6,500. Funding for the program, as approved by the Racine Common Council, is coming from the city’s Sanitary Sewer Surcharge Fund and from the city’s allocation of tax collected on hotel room occupancy.
“We know our small businesses are hurting. I am happy that we were able to provide 18 businesses in the City with resources during with the first round of funding, but given that we had more than 100 applicants we know we needed to do more. It is our hope that this additional $650,000 will help more businesses be able to pay their rents and their employees during this very difficult time,” Racine Mayor Cory Mason said in a news release.
To be eligible for the grants, businesses must:
- Be a for-profit business located within the City of Racine jurisdictional boundaries.
- Have 20 or fewer employees at the time of application.
- Have been operating for at least 6 months (since October 1, 2019).
- Demonstrate efforts to obtain funding sources in addition to a City of Racine program.
- Be owned by an individual who is at least 18 years old.
The grant application deadline is 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 29. Applications and questions should be directed to SmallBusinessGrants@CityofRacine.org or 262-822-7487. Full program details are posted at: https://www.cityofracine.org/CDV/RFP/ or at racinecoronavirus.org