Cuyahoga County awards $3 million to small businesses affected by COVID-19
The Cuyahoga County Small Business Stabilization Fund selected 951 small businesses, from nearly 5,000 applications, to receive grants to help with COVID-19-related losses and costs.
The county conducted two rounds of grant funding in April and May, when small businesses were invited to apply for grants of $2,500 or $5,000.
About half of the grants (475) awarded by the fund are going to minority-owned businesses.
“Due to the overwhelming response the county received for the first round of the stabilization grant funds, we launched a second round of grant funding,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. “These funds are helping small businesses to pay rent, pay employees and just to stay afloat while they get back on their feet.”
The Small Business Stabilization Fund was developed in partnership and with funding from the Cleveland Foundation, KeyBank, the Economic & Community Development Institute, JumpStart Inc., the Urban League, the National Development Council, the Greater Cleveland Partnership/Business Growth Collaborative and Village Capital Corp.
This article originally appeared in Crain’s Cleveland Business on June 22, 2020.