City of Racine – Today the City of Racine launched round two of the Small Business Emergency Fund program which aims to help businesses weather the COVID-19 crisis. Small businesses are among the first to feel the economic impacts of coronavirus and the City of Racine has now allocated $650,000 in additional funding to help to support them during the pandemic. This is in addition to the $250,000 allocated to support the City’s small businesses during the first round of funding, distributed in early April.
Small businesses with up to 20 employees in the City of Racine are eligible to apply for grants of up to $6,500 in this second round of funding. Funding for the program, as approved by the Common Council, has been made available through the City’s Sanitary Sewer Surcharge Fund and from the City’s allocation of Room Taxes.
“We know our small businesses are hurting. I am happy that we were able to provide 18 businesses in the City with resources during with the first round of funding, but given that we had more than 100 applicants we know we needed to do more. It is our hope that this additional $650,000 will help more businesses be able to pay their rents and their employees during this very difficult time,” said Racine Mayor Cory Mason.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy. As a City, we want to do what we can to support them through this crisis. It doesn’t matter if you’re a restaurant, a barbershop, boutique, or small manufacturer, times are tough right now, and families are struggling. I am proud that the Council has approved this funding and I hope we can get these funds into the hand of local businesses quickly,” said Common Council President John Tate II.
To be eligible for the grants, businesses must:
- Be a for-profit business located within the City of Racine jurisdictional boundaries;
- Have 20 or fewer employees at the time of application;
- Have been operating for at least 6 months (since October 1, 2019);
- Demonstrate efforts to obtain funding sources through other programs in addition to the City; and
- The business owner must be at least 18 years of age.
The applications for these grants must be submitted by Wednesday, April 29th at 4 p.m. Applications and questions should be directed to SmallBusinessGrants@
