Westmoreland doles out another $2 million in covid-relief grants to small businesses
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Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday awarded another 130 small businesses nearly $2 million to cover losses and expenses related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The money represents the second, and what commissioners said was the final, round of funding to small businesses from $31.5 million in federal relief funds the county received this summer.
“A lot of small businesses applied, but it was first-come, first-served,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli said. “A lot more businesses applied that we could not fund.”
County officials said almost all of the money earmarked for the second round of small business grants was awarded Thursday. Businesses in the county and that employ fewer than 100 workers were eligible for the funding.
Jim Smith, president and CEO of the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland — the agency hired by the county to review grant applications — said applications from small businesses seeking another $1 million could not be funded.
In September, the first funding round awarded $4.3 million in grants to more than 260 small businesses including a variety of restaurants, construction firms, retail shops, tourism destinations, and fitness, manufacturing and medical services.
Grants this week were awarded to a similar array of businesses and, like in September, were capped at $25,000. Businesses that received grants earlier this year were eligible for funding in the second round, but the total amount an entity could receive from both award periods could not exceed $25,000.
Grant recipients — a list will be posted on the county’s website — will be notified and assigned a time to come to the courthouse to receive the funds.
“For some of these folks, the only revenue they are getting are these grants, and it’s absolutely critical,” Commissioner Doug Chew said.
Businesses throughout the region have struggled since the pandemic started in March, especially during the nearly two months when most were forced to close or operate at dramatically reduced levels during the governor’s stay-at-home order this spring. Many businesses were required to reduce capacity and install safety measures that curtailed efforts once those initial restrictions were lifted in June.
The grants come as a second round of statewide restrictions on businesses, forcing many to close for at least three weeks, were announced by Gov. Tom Wolf, making the county grants all the more important to the small-business community, officials said.
“This money buys them time,” Commissioner Sean Kertes said.
Commissioners are expected to award additional grants to nonprofit agencies and fire companies next week.