The St. Louis County Small Business Relief Program, (SBR), slated to award $17.5 million to small businesses, was recently announced by County Executive Sam Page. The grants make up about 10% of the $173.5 million in federal relief funds the county received from the CARES Act.
The program will provide financial relief to small businesses in St. Louis County that were closed during the Stay at Home Order. Funds can be used to pay for the costs of business interruption as a result of business closing during this time to cover costs associated with reopening safely, including funding improvements for businesses to comply with social distancing guidelines.
Grant Eligibility and Approval Process
To be eligible for the up to $15,000 grant, businesses must have had 50 or fewer employees as of March 1, and have their principal place of business within St. Louis County. Sole proprietors, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations can apply. Companies that already received financial benefit from a federal COVID-19 program, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, are not eligible for SBR.
According to the St. Louis County website, “At this time, the SBR Program will award a maximum total of $2.5 million in grants per County Council district. The process for awarding SBR grants will incorporate community input to guide grant awards to the small businesses that need financial relief the most. SBR grants will be awarded to businesses based upon recommendations received from the Council member and, where applicable, mayor of the municipality where the business’s principal place of business is located.”
More information and the application is available on the St. Louis County website. The County will provide Council members with recommendation forms on May 15th, and Council members must submit their recommendations form containing all grant recommendations for businesses within their district by June 1st.
Visit our COVID-19 Resource Center for more news, tools and insights you need to know in these uncertain times.
