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Lucas County
Commissioners & Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce
Small Business
Stabilization Fund Approve Additional $500,000
The Lucas County Commissioners last week approved allocating
an additional $500,000 to the Small Business Stabilization
Fund that was created a week ago to provide financial
assistance to businesses and non-profit organizations that
are struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Commissioners took action to provide the additional
funds due to the overwhelming response from area businesses
and non-profit organizations for assistance. The $500,000
appropriated by the Commissioners on Tuesday brings the
total amount of the funds available for distribution to
businesses and non-profit groups to $2 million. The program
provides qualified businesses and non-profit organizations
with fewer than 50 employees with grants up to $25,000.
As of Tuesday, the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce,
which is administering the Small Business Stabilization Fund
program, had received over 400 applicants seeking nearly $5
million in grant assistance. Qualifying small businesses and
non-profit organizations submitted applications to the
Chamber of Commerce for reimbursement of certain eligible
expenses. All program funds must be expended by December 30,
2020.
Of the businesses requesting assistance, nearly 50 percent
are minority, women, or veteran owned, surpassing the
cumulative participation rate of 15 percent set by the
Commissioners.
The web portal to submit applications for the first-come,
first-served program has now been closed. However, the
Chamber of Commerce is continuing to process applications.
Those applicants that were not funded will remain in the
queue in the order of receipt should additional funding
become available.
The Ohio Development Services Agency is administering two
new targeted programs to address the tremendous need for
small business aid in Ohio: the Small Business Relief Grant
and the Bar and Restaurant Assistance Fund:
The Small Business Relief Grant
Up to $125 million in federal CARES Act funding received by
the State of Ohio has been designated to provide $10,000
grants to small businesses to help them through the current
crisis. The program began accepting applications November 2,
2020.
Bar and Restaurant Assistance Fund
The governor has designated $38.7 million in federal CARES
Act funds to provide $2,500 assistance payments to
on-premise liquor permit holders to help them through the
financial difficulties experienced during the COVID-19
pandemic. As these permit holders have not been able to
fully use their liquor permits, their businesses have been
negatively impacted. The program began accepting
applications November 2, 2020.
The Commissioners encourage businesses harmed by the effects
of COVID-19 to apply to these Ohio Development Services
Agency programs at:
https://businesshelp.ohio.gov/
Lucas County’s funding for the Small Business Stabilization
Fund comes from CARES Act dollars, federal funding provided
for communities to help navigate the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic.
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