TEMPLE, TX — The City of Temple has partnered with United Way and the Temple Chamber of Commerce in response to the economic hardships experienced by small businesses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organizations have established a Small Business Grant Program in an effort to retain jobs and stabilize local businesses. This program provides gap financing for businesses that have lost revenue as a result of social distancing and are at risk of layoffs or closure.
The program is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds.
“The primary goal of the program is to provide support so that businesses can retain jobs held by low to moderate-income persons,” said Stephanie O’Banion, United Way CEO. “We are also hoping to provide assistance to microenterprises with low to moderate-income owners. We know that these businesses are vital to the economic health and well-being of our community.”
The program will use $90,000 of CDBG-CV funds to provide grants of up to $5,000 to businesses with up to fifty (50) full-time equivalent employees at the time of application, or up to five (5) full-time equivalent employees with a low to moderate-income owner. The business must demonstrate a loss of gross revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to be considered for funding.
Applications will be accepted through August 5, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. on the United Way website.
Due to the anticipated number of submissions and limited funding, applications will be processed by an evaluation committee composed of United Way, Temple Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Temple staff.
For more information about this program, contact the United Way by calling 211 or visiting www.uwct.org.
