by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Pennington County has disbursed COVID-19 relief grants to 23 county small businesses totalling $279,786.55. That announcement was made at the Pennington County Board meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Pennington County is using its Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding to fund the grants, which are being offered through the Pennington County CARES Act Small Business Grant Program.
The 23 grants ranged from $4,744 to $15,000. All of the unidentified grant recipients are located in Thief River Falls. The businesses received the grants for operating expenses, including rent payments, mortgage payments, utilities, payments to suppliers, production of business contingency plans, technical assistance/reopening services, technology capital or marketing assistance/tools, security or other critical non-payroll business expenses (including expenses related to reopening) as approved by the fund administrator.
In the first round, grants are available to two types of small businesses in Pennington County. They include:
• A grant of up to $5,000 to a business owner who is self-employed or a sole proprietor; and
• A grant of up to $15,000 for businesses with one to 20 full-time equivalent employees.
These grants are available to applicant nonessential businesses that have demonstrated a significant loss of revenue since March 15 and plan to use the money to alleviate COVID-19 expenses. They must have been in operation for six months prior to March 1 and must be current on their property taxes prior to March 15. Corporate chains and multi-state chains are ineligible for the program.
The grant committee is expected to meet again Wednesday, Sept. 2 and consider another round of grant applications. As of Tuesday, the committee had a total of $358,000 in additional grant applications that may also receive funding. Pennington County Emergency Management Director Erik Beitel said more than 30 grants were pending as of Tuesday.
County Board Chairperson Darryl Tveitbakk said many of the upcoming applications were initially incomplete, so Beitel was working with those businesses.
Grant applications are due Tuesday, Sept. 15. Grant applications are online at co.pennington.mn.us. Paper copies are also available at the Auditor-Treasurer’s Office. If all of the above projected grants are awarded, the committee will have an additional $112,213.45 available for Round 1 grant applications.
A total of $750,000 has been allocated for the grant program, which may include a round 2 for higher grant awards if money were available. The county has received a total of $1,784,000 in CARES Act funding. Of that amount, county leaders have estimated that they will spend $600,000 for the county’s eligible COVID-19 expenses since March. An additional $434,000 of CARES Act funding is unallocated since county leaders are unsure what the future holds. The county is required to spend all of its CARES Act money or forfeit it within the next five months.