CALIFORNIA, USA — More than 300,000 applications have been successfully completed for the first round of California's Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, which closed on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
According to California's Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), small businesses and non-profits will be notified between Friday, Jan. 15 through Friday, Jan. 22, about whether their application was approved. After that, funds will be distributed over a 45-day period beginning on Friday, Jan. 22.
The program was designed to help small businesses deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. A total of $500 million dollars in funds is expected to be distributed in these grants, with some individual businesses eligible to receive up to $25,000.
Not all who apply and are eligible will receive assistance in round one, but that's why there is a round two. Those businesses that applied and are eligible, but did not receive assistance in this first round, will automatically be considered for the second round. Round two also means another chance to apply for small businesses in need who did not take advantage of round one.
According to a press release from the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), applications for round two will open at 8 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 2 and will remain open until 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8.
“There is no question that small business are hurting, and the reality of this pandemic demands urgent relief now to help those who need it most,” said Dee Dee Myers, GO-Biz director, in the press release. “Before COVID-19, the 4.1 million small businesses that call this state home created two-thirds of California’s net new jobs and employed nearly half of all private-sector employees. It is crucial that we do everything we can to put more money into the hands of impacted small business owners.”
In addition to the Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, Gov. Newsom called for immediate legislative action on $575 million in additional grants for the California Relief Grant Program on Jan. 5. If approved, the investment would bring the total amount of COVID-19 business relief grants available in the state to $1.075 billion.
The grant program is not a first-come, first-served program, nor a rolling approval process. Grants will be distributed across the state, with priority given to regions and industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, disadvantaged communities, and underserved small business groups.
