Cabarrus Today

County of Cabarrus issued the following announcement on Oct. 9. 

START an online application for small business financial support

Friday, October 15, is the last day for local small businesses impacted by COVID-19 to apply for one-time grants of up to $10,000.

Cabarrus County dedicated $5 million in American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to the program, which could help as many as 500 businesses.

Qualifying expenses include:

• Payroll and benefit costs
• Mortgage/rent
• Utilities
• Operating costs
• COVID-19 prevention (e.g., physical barriers, cleaning, testing, etc.)

Eligible businesses must:

• Have a location within Cabarrus County that opened before January 1, 2020
• Operate as a for-profit agency
• Have an independent owner/operator
• Employ 50 or fewer workers
• Demonstrate loss of revenue due to COVID-19
• Be in good standing with all Federal, State and local governments (taxes, etc.)
• Provide 2019 and 2020 Federal tax returns with their application
• Meet County vendor onboarding requirements

Deputy County Manager Rodney Harris is part of a team that developed the program—the County’s first American Rescue Plan strategy to meet the needs of struggling small businesses.

“It’s a step toward recovery,” Harris said. “Small business owners who can show a direct hit to their bottom line can benefit from the funding. I encourage them to learn more about the program and submit an application.”

The County will review applications and allocate funding after the October 15 deadline.

How to apply

To learn more and apply, visit cabarruscounty.us/BizGrant21.

From there, applicants can:

• Review information
• Submit their application online in a few easy steps
• Download and print the application

Applicants are required to answer a few qualifying questions, including how the business impacts Cabarrus County’s economy.

To complete the process, applicants will need to submit the business’ 2019 and 2020 Federal tax returns with the application. Online applicants will need to upload an electronic copy.

Paper applications are available at Cabarrus County’s libraries, Human Services Center, Veteran Services Office, Board of Elections Office, Senior Center in Concord and the Government Center (County Manager’s Office).

Previous COVID-19 assistance

Businesses that received COVID-19-related financial assistance (i.e., PPP) are eligible to apply for the grant, though priority may be given to businesses that have not received such assistance.

Ineligible business categories

The Federal government has outlined which businesses are ineligible for funding. These include, but are not limited to, non-profit businesses, financial businesses primarily engaged in lending, pyramid sale distribution plans and political organizations.

Steps toward recovery

The $5 million small business support initiative falls in line with other County efforts to support recovery.

Since March of 2020, the County has allocated its share of federal and state recovery funds in the following ways:

• $6.5 million toward emergency rental and utility assistance
• More than $1 million in Nonprofit Resiliency Grants to 32 local agencies that helped stabilize the community during the pandemic
• $33.5 million toward local efforts to support the community’s highest needs

 Original source can be found here.