PROVIDENCE – Gov. Daniel J. McKee on Monday announced the details of a program designed to aid struggling small businesses by providing those that qualify with $5,000 in grant funding. The funding will accommodate approximately 4,000 of the state’s businesses.
McKee’s administration is calling it the Small Business Relief Grant Program. Under the program, R.I. Commerce Corp. will serve as the distributor of $20 million in funding from the federal stimulus Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that passed in March 2020. R.I. Commerce will begin accepting applications on April 15 from eligible businesses.
This program is aimed to help small businesses with revenue up to $1 million that experienced a loss in 2020 compared to 2019. Small businesses opened in 2020 also qualify and the program is open to almost all for-profit industries.
The entire program is being funding by $30 million in CARES Act funding with $10 million going toward administrative costs, outreach efforts, and technical assistance providers. The program window for applications will close on April 30, with the potential distribution of remaining funds being used for grant purposes.
The announcement was held at Executive Cuts Barber Shop in Providence. McKee said he wanted to hold the announcement at the shop “because it was right in this spot, last July, that we had a press conference to call on the state to allocate millions of dollars in CARES act funds to be used for small business grants. I think by now Rhode Islanders know my passion for small business.”
“I was a small-business owner myself,” said McKee. “I know what it’s like to ride the roller- coaster of running a business during tough times. During the recession that accompanied the credit union crisis, I spent every day fighting to keep our health club in Woonsocket alive. I understand what it’s like to worry about being able to keep employees on the payroll, while knowing that they depend on you to support their own families.”
McKee said that Rhode Island businesses “worked hard to keep their doors open, their customers safe, and their workers employed throughout this pandemic. I’ve seen it firsthand. They need our support as we continue the fight against COVID-19 and ramp up vaccination efforts. Our team has been committed to advocating for the small business community since day one of this pandemic.”
“Today, within the first several weeks of our administration, we continue that commitment in the governor’s office by announcing the small-business-relief grant program, which will begin accepting applications this Thursday, April 15,” said McKee. “The grant program is aimed at assisting small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
R.I. Commerce will be hosting a Facebook live event on Tuesday at 12 p.m. noon to walk businesses through the application process.
“I would encourage businesses to participate in the Facebook live event or watch the [recorded] video when you have time,” said McKee.
To assist with the application process, R.I. Commerce has also made several technical- assistance partners available, the state said. These organizations can help small businesses complete the application at no cost to the business and will provide assistance is available in multiple languages. More information on the program may be found online.
“We need to take care of the smaller businesses that are struggling to afford rent and essential bills,” Chris Parisi, president of the R.I. Small Business Coalition said at the press conference. “And this program does just that.”
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Shuman@PBN.com.
Update: Adds paragraph three to include information on eligibility requirements. Adds paragraph 12 to include comments from Chris Parisi.
