Manatee County researches ways it can help local businesses after pandemic

Geri Lopez’s office at Manatee County normally focuses on creating workforce housing and diversifying the local economy.

Right now, its main focus is combatting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses. 

Lopez, director of the Redevelopment and Economic Opportunity department, said she hopes by the end of June, Manatee County can provide financial relief to Manatee’s small businesses that have had hardships because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The initial program, likely for small grants of $5,000 or less, would target workplace safety, providing funds to businesses that need assistance reopening under state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. That could mean paying for personal protective equipment, like facial masks for employees or plastic shields between cash registers, or helping them comply with 50% capacity restrictions.

A second phase could be helping businesses to bring back furloughed employees.

“This is going to be a phased approach,” Lopez told commissioners at their May 19 meeting. “The results we want to see are businesses reopening. We want to see residents back to work.”

Manatee County At-large Commissioner Carol Whitmore suggested a program to retrain employees in other industries, as needed, while District 1 Commissioner Priscilla Whisenant Trace suggested considering non-monetary aid, such as closing off roads or lending out tents for outside dining for businesses to use.

“How can we help them facilitate business?” Whisenant Trace said. “There’s a lot of things we have — stuff — that we might be able to help them with.”

Commissioner Misty Servia also suggested having a workshop with the School District of Manatee County to discuss how to support working parents if e-learning extends into the next school year.

Lopez said she hopes to present an initial program for consideration at the commissioners' June 16 meeting. The Redevelopment and Economic Opportunity department intends to focus first on businesses hardest hit by the pandemic — likely those in the service and retail industries that were forced to close by state order, those with 25 employees or less and those that did not qualify or receive other state or federal assistance. 

She hopes the county will be able to start with at least $2 million to support local businesses, however any program and funding for it must first be approved by the county commissioners. County staff members are evaluating possible funding sources for any grant or other COVID-19 financial-assistance programs to determine possible funding levels, she said.

Funds likely would come from general revenues, or be shifted around from other county assistance programs, she said.

The Redevelopment and Economic Opportunity Department also is working with business organizations, such as the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, to better understand business needs. The county sent out an online survey to help it better understand business needs and develop future phases of COVID-19 related programming. 

She said the county does not have a complete database of businesses, which makes it harder to gather information, however it knows there are about 13,000 businesses in the county. Lopez said the survey results will help the county identify any gaps in needs. Is there a common problem businesses are now facing? Does that problem vary by industry?

Lopez said the survey results will help answer those questions and allow her department to identify the best solutions, whether creating new programs, partnering with other agencies or connecting businesses with existing programs. 

“Our economy is suffering in ways no one ever anticipated,” Lopez said “Figuring out what the solutions need to be is difficult. We need to make decisions based on data. We don’t have all the answers yet.”

Lopez said neighboring counties are doing a variety of programs. For example, Pinellas County is using $170 million it received in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to provide $5,000 grants to businesses with 25 employees or less, and the city of Fort Myers has a program to provide $10,000s grants to businesses with five or fewer employees. 

Manatee County currently does not qualify for CARES Act funding because its population is under 500,000.