Decatur, GA — Small businesses in Decatur can soon benefit from the second round of COVID-19 grants provided by the city.

Small businesses can submit applications tomorrow, Nov. 11, at 8 a.m. Information on how to apply is included at the end of this article.

The city is making $400,000 in grant funding available, drawing upon money provided via the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

The City has received $2,914,000 in federal CARES Act funding to handle expenses related to COVID-19. It’s using that money to forgive $563,400 in loans that were provided to businesses as part of the city’s COVID-19 relief efforts. Last month, City Commissioners signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Decatur Development Authority to use $400,000 more in CARES money to provide a second round of small business grants.

The new grant program will have some new parameters that will make it easier for businesses to apply. It will allow applications from businesses that are owned and staffed by sole proprietors and increase the employee number limit from 30 to 50. Applicants can request $5,000 per full-time employee, up to a maximum of $25,000. In the likely event that there are more requests than money available, a lottery process will be used again.

Here’s the announcement from the city about how to apply for the second round of grant funding:

The City of Decatur and the Decatur Development Authorities (DDA) have announced the creation of a small business grant program in response to the financial challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of $400,000 will be granted from funding made available to the local government through the CARES Act.

Any small business in Decatur employing between one and 50 full-time or full-time equivalent employees is eligible, so long as they were open and operational as of March 1, 2020. Depending on various factors in the application process, including the number of full-time employees, eligible businesses will be considered for a grant of up to $25,000.

The grants are being administered by the DDA, and businesses interested in applying are encouraged to visit Decatur’s business resources webpage for updates and for the grant guide. The online portal to submit an application will open at 8:00 a.m. on November 11, 2020, and the deadline to apply is 5:00 p.m. on November 25, 2020. In the event that the grant fund is over-subscribed, a lottery method will be used to select which businesses from the group of qualified applicants will receive the grant. Grant distributions are expected by the end of December.

The DDA has also created an interactive webpage detailing which local businesses are remaining open during the COVID-19 pandemic and their updated operating hours, which can be accessed through DecaturGA.com.

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