City readies expansion of business grant program

When the city set aside $2.3 million in May to start a program offering grants of up to $5,000 to small businesses facing challenges associated with COVID-19, officials expected the money would go quickly.

Nearly three months later, the city has distributed less than a third of that money to 166 businesses. The money left over could fund more than 300 additional grants, staff said — which is why the City Commission is interested in expanding accessibility to the small business assistance program.

Stevie Freeman-Montes, the city’s interim economic development general manager, provided an update on the grant program at a special commission meeting Tuesday.

The city has received more than 550 applications for grants, but staff had to reject more than half of those businesses. Most rejected applicants were not located within the city limits. Other applicants were rejected because they did not have a storefront or were not among the eligible business types or because they received more than $5,000 through the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

At previous meetings, commissioners suggested broadening the definitions of eligible businesses. When the city launched the program, it was primarily targeted at brick-and-mortar commercial operations affected by the statewide shutdown order in April. Freeman-Montes outlined a series of potential changes, including allowing home-based and arts businesses to receive grants.

Although the board indicated a desire to open up the program to more businesses, any changes will likely not be implemented immediately. That’s because city staff wants to focus its short-term energy on advocating for the needs of city businesses as Sarasota County officials develop a strategy for distributing more than $75 million in federal coronavirus relief bill funding. Freeman-Montes said the County Commission is expected to discuss details of a separate grant program in August.

Freeman-Montes suggested the city could make changes to its business grant initiative that help fill in any gaps in the county’s economic assistance efforts. She also said staff hoped to make some procedural changes that allowed the city to more efficiently process grant applications.

On Wednesday, the city announced it will close applications for the first round of business grant program at 5 p.m. Aug. 7. The commission agreed to temporarily stop accepting applications to allow staff to focus on those procedural changes and CARES Act advocacy. Staff said a second cycle of business grants could begin in September.

More information on the small business grant program is available on the city’s website.