Second Round of COVID Assistance Grants for Small Businesses and NonProfits
Oct 07, 2020 12:00AM ● By Lauren Lake Faulkenberry, Placer CountyAUBURN, CA (MPG) - Today, the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved a second round of Placer Shares grant funding for small businesses and nonprofits. In July, the Placer County Board of Supervisors allocated $8 million of the county’s federal CARES Act funding to assist small businesses and nonprofits with their COVID-19 related expenses. This second round would use the remaining funding and potentially more, pending an assessment of community needs.
For this second round, the county will again promote this need-based grant opportunity, encouraging those who missed the first round which ended last month. To date, Placer County has awarded 1,250 grants to 1,120 small businesses and 135 nonprofits with grant funding totaling approximately $7.5 million through the first round of the county’s Placer Shares program.
“Placer Shares was designed to assist the most impacted small businesses and nonprofits in our county,” said Board Chair Bonnie Gore. “We are committed to doing everything we can to get dollars back into our community, which is why we think it’s vital to fund all eligible nonprofits that previously applied for a Placer Shares grant and to reopen the program for small businesses that may have missed the previous deadline.”
The board directed staff to distribute $150,000 to fund 13 nonprofit organizations that had previously applied for a grant but were not awarded due to funding and priority limitations.
Out of all eligible small businesses that applied for funding, 100% received between $5,000 and $10,000 awards. The board also approved the opening of a second round of grant applications to distribute the remaining $250,000 to small businesses. Additional funding may be made available to both small businesses and nonprofit organizations after current needs are assessed.
Learn more about Placer Shares at https:/www.placer.ca.gov/shares.