Greensburg’s small businesses have a second shot at grant funding to help them recover from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Greensburg Community Development Corporation soon will open applications for the second round of its Covid-19 Relief Main Street Jump-Start Program.
City businesses that employ 10 or fewer people and have experienced demonstrable financial losses because of the pandemic are eligible and could receive a maximum of $10,000.
The GCDC has a total of $90,000 in grant money to distribute.
The first round of grant funding was distributed this summer. GCDC awarded 25 businesses a total of $140,000.
That round was funded through a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The second will be funded with covid-19 money given to the City of Greensburg through the federal Community Development Block Grant program.
“The City of Greensburg is extremely happy to provide these … funds to the GCDC to try and help our local businesses recover from these unprecedented times,” Mayor Robert Bell said in a statement. “It’s been a very trying year for everyone, and the fact that we can provide some type of relief to the businesses that mean so much to our city and its success is very rewarding and beneficial to all of us.”
The grant money is meant to help business cover expenses that aren’t covered by federal CARES act pandemic relief funding — such as marketing, accounting, human resources, legal services and information technology.
Businesses that received grant money in the first round are eligible to apply again, but priority will be given to first-time recipients, said Ashley Kertes, executive director of the GCDC.
“Thanks to our partnership with the City of Greensburg, we are now able to help even more small businesses through a second round of our Covid-19 Relief Main Street Jump-Start Program,” Kertes said in a statement. “This program has and will fuel our community’s recovery after a challenging and uncertain year.”
Applications open 9 a.m. March 8 and close at 11:59 p.m. March 19. Information is available at thinkgreensburg.com.
