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Loans and Grants Available

AMEX & Mainstreet Grant

What would you do with a $5000.00 check to improve your business? Main Street America along with American Express is sponsoring 350-5000.00 grants to help small businesses in our historic downtowns! Ellensburg Downtown Association is excited to introduce this opportunity to you! And we recommend you jump on it!! APRIL 7TH DEADLINE

Attached in the body of the email is a link that gives an excellent overview of the program, eligibility requirements, the process, and the timeline. It also gives a contact to answer questions. If you need help, we are glad to offer some advice and answer some questions.

What should I do now?

If you fit the eligibility requirements, there are some documents that you will need when filling out the Grant Form.

·A Certificate of Good Standing is provided by the State. In Washington, it is called the Washington Certificate of Existence and you acquire this from the Secretary of State.

·We recommend you order this ASAP as it may take time to get your copy. You will also need your EIN or UBI number and the legal name of the business.

What would you do?

Add new Product lines? New Website? Marketing? Improve accessibility? Begin your remodel? New sales/inventory system? Set up online sales? International sales? There is so much we can do in our businesses. Want to bounce your ideas off of us?

Please contact Linda Schantz @ fabulous_log_home@hotmail.com, 509-201-0293.

Washington Hospitality Grants

There will be Washington Hospitality Grants that will award one-time grants to eligible restaurants, hotels, motels, and other small hospitality businesses in Washington State that were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 public health crisis.
Eligible Businesses:
Grants for hospitality and lodging businesses including restaurants, food stands, trucks, carts, caterers, breweries & microbreweries, wineries & distilleries, hotels, motels, or similar establishments, and other hospitality organizations.
Examples:
  • Restaurants
  • Food stands, food trucks, food carts
  • Caterers
  • Bars, saloons, lounges, taverns
  • Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars
  • Bakeries*
  • Brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms*
  • Breweries or microbreweries*
  • Wineries and distilleries*
  • Licensed facilities or premises of a beverage alcohol producer where the public may taste, sample, or purchase products
  • Inns, bed and breakfast (onsite sales of food and beverage to the public comprise at least 25% of gross receipts or sales, or at least 5 private lodging rooms)
  • Hotels and motels (except casino hotels)
  • Bowling Alleys (Based on funding availability)
  • Convention and Visitors Bureaus (Based on funding availability)
*onsite sales to the public comprise at least 25% of gross receipts or sales
Financial Requirements:
  • Your business must have experienced a 25% or greater loss in gross receipts or sales between 2019 and 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health and safety measures. (25% loss must be from the 1st Quarter of 2020 to another quarter in 2020 for businesses that started in 2020)
  • Your business must have minimum gross receipts or sales of $12,000 in 2019 (or 2020 for businesses that
  • opened in 2020)*
  • Your business must generate at least 51% of revenue in Washington State.
  • Your business must not have permanently closed or intend to permanently close in 2023.
  • Your business must have expenses that are necessary to continue business operations (i.e. payroll, rent, etc.). Expenses can not be a federal, state, or local tax, fee, license, or other government revenue.
*The grants are targeted primarily for small businesses with $5 million or less in annual gross receipts or sales within designated NAICS codes. If Commerce is able to fund all the eligible applicants from the target pool, and funds remain, Commerce may be able to provide grants to additional businesses who have annual gross receipts or sales larger than $5 million.
Begin Your UEI Registration Today:
Federal grant recipients must register for and receive a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from the federal System for Awards Management to receive grant funds. This helpful video will guide you through the process of registering for your UEI in SAM.
For immediate questions about the program launch, please contact info@wahospitalitygrants.com.
This project is supported by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Grant funds are administered by the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund through the Washington State Department of Commerce.

Early Learning Facilities Application & Funding Process Workshop

Join us in learning about our Early Learning Facilities Program Grants process that establishes new capacity for early learning providers. WA Dept. of Commerce Early Learning Facilities program & WA State Department of Children, Youth & Families is hosting an in-person application & funding process informational workshop. This workshop will walk eligible organizations through our reimbursable-style grant process, to better prepare providers to apply for capital infrastructure funding. Our program is committed to developing additional high quality learning opportunities for children from low-income households.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

9:00 a.m - 3:00 p.m

Hilton Garden Inn

25 North Worthen Street

Wenatchee, WA 98801

Kittitas County Lodging Tax Committee Micro-Grant

The Kittitas County Lodging Tax Committee is pleased to announce the availability of micro-grants for 2023. Grants are available for organizations with plans to coordinate and produce an event within Kittitas County. Organizations applying should support projects with the goal of increasing non-resident visitor expenditures coming from 50 miles or further outside the county. Grant values are up to $2,500 and should be for events occurring within Kittitas County in 2023.

Potential uses for these funds include advertising through print, electronic and web advertising, publications, and/or marketing collateral. Funding may also be considered for event operations upon approval of the Kittitas County Lodging Tax Committee. The Micro-Grants are funded through Kittitas County lodging tax funds and are administered through the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce.

For additional information or to answer questions regarding the application process, please email the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce Director of Tourism and Events, Matt Anderson at matt@kittitascountychamber.com or call (509) 925-2002.

Evergreen Manufacturing Growth Grants

The Evergreen Manufacturing Growth Grants program is designed to increase the number of manufacturing and research and development jobs in Washington State. The $2 million in grants will be awarded to eligible manufacturing and research and development businesses as well as organizations defined as innovation clusters in the funding application. Each grantee will be eligible for a grant between $200,000 and $400,000.

Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the availability of capital investment or matching funds to support a significant business expansion or proposed cutting-edge development work. Submissions will be evaluated according to their ability to generate manufacturing and R&D jobs as well as their strategic alignment with the state’s key sectors: aerospace, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, clean technology and renewable energy, creative economy, forest products, information and communications technology, life science, maritime, and defense.

For more information – including more detailed accounts of eligibility and the application process – please review the program documents.

There are two application types available for this program: one for individual businesses and a second for innovation cluster organizations.

Business Applicants are encouraged to contact their local economic development partner, also known as Associate Development Organizations (ADO), to seek support for their application. Commerce will accept business applications via Associate Development Organizations only.  Find the local ADO responsible for your area.

Innovation Clusters are defined as an existing innovation cluster under Commerce’s Innovation Cluster Accelerator or an entity that is proposing a new cluster-related program or project.

Please read and review all materials pertaining to this program if you are considering applying.

For additional questions regarding this program, please contact the program manager.

Radi Simeonova, Managing Director
Radi.Simeonova@commerce.wa.gov
Phone: 206-256-6114

Hospitality and Lodging Grants Program

This grant program will provide assistance for eligible restaurants, bars, and other qualifying businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic. This program will also provide assistance to “lodging establishments” taxable by the state under chapter 28.08 RCW with 40 or more lodging units affected by the Governors moratorium.

Hospitality/restaurant industry

Grantees must use the funding for losses accepted between March 3, 2021 and October 21, 2021, as required by federal ARPA regulations and in accordance with the governor’s eviction moratorium end dates. Recipients/ Grantees will have until December 31, 2024 to use the funds.

Lodging establishments

Grantees must use the funding for losses accepted between March 3, 2021 and October 31, 2022, as required by federal ARPA regulations and in accordance with the state’s emergency order end dates.  Recipients/ Grantees will have until December 31, 2024 to use the funds.

Detailed budget language by the Washington State Legislature:

$100,000,000 of the coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund — federal appropriation is provided solely for the department to administer a business assistance program for qualifying hospitality industry businesses that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts. The department must administer the program under appropriate agreements. For the purposes of this subsection, “qualifying hospitality industry businesses” means restaurants, hotels, motels, and other businesses in the hospitality industry as determined by the department. (b) Of the amount provided in this subsection, $15,000,000 of the coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund—federal appropriation is provided solely for grants to reimburse lodging establishments that have experienced losses during the state’s eviction moratorium pursuant to the governor’s proclamations. The department must work with impacted lodging establishments to develop criteria for the administration of this grant program. The department will verify actual eligible losses to be reimbursed. Actual eligible losses include room charges not paid by persons who stayed during the moratorium, any legal expenses incurred by lodging establishments as a result of the moratorium, and any repair expenses directly attributed to damages to rooms. For the purposes of this subsection (152)(b), “lodging establishment” means a hotel, motel, or similar establishment taxable by the state under chapter 82.08 RCW that has or more lodging units.

For more information, you may email the program lead Linda.Womack@Commerce.Wa.gov.

 

Application portal will open in March 2023.

CBDG COVID-19 Microenterprise Grant

The Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the availability of the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG-CV) Small Business Grant for local business owners affected by COVID-19. The Chamber is currently accepting physical applications.

The CBDG-CV Small Business Grants are available to those who;

  • Locally owned and managed a business with local decision-making authority
  • Have a current Washington Business license at the time of the grant awarded
  • Been in business for at least one year form the date of application
  • Ability to demonstrate loss of income due to COVID-19
  • Must met LMI Household income qualifications
  • Business can only have up to 5 people on payroll (including owner(s)) at time of application

This grant can be used for rent or mortgage support, utilities assistance, location cleaning and more. A list of ineligible expenses are stated in the CBDG-CV Grant Guidelines shown on the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce website. 

To fill out the CBDG-CV Small Business Grant Application click the link below to download the PDF Grant Application. Turn in a completed physical application to the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce located at 609 N Main Street Ellensburg, WA 98926. For additional information you can email the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer, Amy McGuffin at amy@kittitascountychamber.com or call (509) 925-2002. 

Go Global E-Commerce Technical Assistance Grant Program

Go Global is an E-commerce Technical Assistance Grant Program that supports small businesses with the consulting, design and technical support required to develop and integrate e-commerce into their website so they can successfully market and sell domestically and internationally and grow their worth.

Small business owners awarded through Go Global will select contractors (they wish to work with) from among a statewide master list of vetted and approved contractors procured by Commerce. The grant award is up to $4,000 to cover the cost of the needed web design/e-commerce project. This will be paid by Commerce directly to the contractor when the e-commerce project is completed.

The awards will be on-going process, based on funds available.

 

  1. Qualifying small businesses in Washington will be able to apply using this Smartsheet application form.
  2. A team at Commerce will review the application and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.
  3. If you are awarded the grant, you will be referred to a list of qualified, vetted design firms that can help you build the site of your dreams. You will select the one you want to work with. We highly recommend that you get more than one bid and ask for a fixed-cost bid so you can plan your budget accordingly.
  4. When the work is all done, the design firm will let us know the project is completed to your specifications and satisfaction.
  5. The state will then reimburse the design firm for up to $4,000 of the project cost. If the project was more costly than that, you will need to pay the balance to the design firm directly.

That’s all there is to it. After your project is done, you can continue to work with your web firm going forward on more bells and whistles or take things from there and do everything on your own. Every business is different, so our job here at the state is to give you the helping hand you need to get online or get your site generating leads and sales for you.

If you really start mastering international sales, you may even be able to apply for an Export Voucher with our International Trade office, giving you more financial resources to grow your market share, engage in exports, and even attend trade shows.

The portal will be opened until the funding will last. The application window will close May 31, 2023

Micro-Grants Available for Promotion of Small and/or New Events

The Kittitas County Lodging Tax Committee is pleased to announce the availability of micro-grants for 2021. Grants are available for nonprofit organizations with plans to coordinate and produce an event within Kittitas County. Organizations applying should support projects with the goal of increasing non-resident visitor expenditures coming from 50 miles or further outside the county.
Potential uses for these funds include advertising through print, electronic and web advertising, publications, and/or marketing collateral. Funding may also be considered for event operations upon approval of the Kittitas County Lodging Tax Committee. The Micro-Grants are funded through Kittitas County lodging tax funds and are administered through the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce.
Completed applications should be sent to the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce CEO Amy McGuffin at amy@kittitascountychamber.com.

Small Business Flex Fund

Reopening is here and the Washington State Department of Commerce is launching the Small Business Flex Fund to help businesses recover and grow.
 
The Fund is a low-interest loan program for small businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 50 employees and $3 million in annual revenue. The program works with and through local Community Development Financial Institutions experienced in serving under-resourced communities and underbanked businesses.
 
Pre-apply at smallbusinessflexfund.org, get matched to a local lender and be supported throughout the process!
 
This public-private program is possible thanks to many communities and lending partners including Heritage Bank, WaFd Bank, Ascendus, Evergreen Business Capital, Business Impact NW, NDC National Development Council and Craft3.
The grant and the newly developed Partner Toolkit are available in multiple different languages to help more small businesses and non-profits receive the help that they need to recover and grow.

Shuttered Venue Operators Grant

The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program was established by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, and amended by the American Rescue Plan Act. The program includes over $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues, to be administered by SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance.

Eligible applicants may qualify for grants equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue, with the maximum amount available for a single grant award of $10 million. $2 billion is reserved for eligible applications with up to 50 full-time employees.

Eligible entities include:

  • Live venue operators or promoters
  • Theatrical producers
  • Live performing arts organization operators
  • Relevant museum operators, zoos and aquariums who meet specific criteria
  • Motion picture theater operators
  • Talent representatives
  • Each business entity owned by an eligible entity that also meets the eligibility requirements

Other requirements of note:

  • Must have been in operation as of February 29, 2020
  • Venue or promoter who received a PPP loan on or after December 27, 2020, will have the SVOG reduced by the PPP loan amount

Central Washington United Way Grant

United Way of Central Washington is currently accepting funding requests to support:

  • Critical services for food, housing, health care, homeless services (to include additional needs due to cold weather season)
  • Services supporting behavioral or mental health
  • Staffing needs to support critical service delivery
  • Technology resources for critical service delivery These requests are reviewed by a funding partnership of the United Way of Central Washington, Latino Community Fund, and the Yakima Valley Community Foundation.

Requests are considered on an ongoing basis as funding becomes available. For more information, please contact: info@uwcw.org or (509) 248-1557, grants@yakimavalleycf.org or (509) 457-7616, and/or info@latinocommunityfund.org or (509) 901-2798

Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Grants

As Washington State’s only statewide preservation advocacy organization, the Washington Trust plays a key role in advocating for good preservation policy on both the state and national levels.

There are grants and advocacy opportunities available on their website.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

The Paycheck Protection Program is a federal stimulus program designed to provide quick access to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans for companies with 500 or fewer employees to assist with payroll and covered operating costs during short-term business disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000. This advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. Funds will be made available following a successful application.

 

As of January 1, 2022, we are not able to accept applications for new COVID EIDL loans or advances. SBA will continue to accept requests for increases, reconsideration, and appeals.

Washington State Paid Family Medical Leave Grant

Small business assistance grants are here!

These grants provide up to $3,000 to help cover costs associated with employees who take Paid Leave. Learn more about eligibility, requirements and the application process in the help center.

SBA Express Bridge Loan

Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program allows small businesses who currently have a business relationship with an SBA Express Lender to access up to $25,000 quickly. These loans can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing and can be a term loans or used to bridge the gap while applying for a direct SBA Economic Injury Disaster loan. If a small business has an urgent need for cash while waiting for decision and disbursement on an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, they may qualify for an SBA Express Disaster Bridge Loan.

SBA Debt Relief

As part of our coronavirus debt relief efforts, the SBA will pay 6 months of principal, interest, and any associated fees that borrowers owe for all current 7(a), 504, and Micro-loans in regular servicing status as well as new 7(a), 504, and Micro-loans disbursed prior to September 27, 2020. This relief is not available for Paycheck Protection Program loans or Economic Injury Disaster loans.

Central Washington Disability Resources CARES Act Funding

Beginning October 1, 2020, Central Washington Disability Resources (CWDR) is able to provide a one-time financial aid to individuals with disabilities in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding can be utilized for rental assistance, food assistance, medical payment/COVID-19 testing fees, utility bills, phone bills, necessary transportation, or to secure PPE and cleaning supplies.

Contact CWDR a (509) 962-9620 or email ashley@mycwdr.org or joshua@mycwdr.org.

Additional Resources