Montgomery County and the Towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg have established a grant fund to support small business recovery in response to COVID-19. One-time grants of up to $27,500 are being provided to offset business impacts during the pandemic. The grant program will be administered by all three localities in partnership with the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Blacksburg Inc., Downtown Christiansburg Inc., and the Blacksburg Partnership.

Please register through this grants portal to access and complete the grant application. Applications are due Sept. 20, 2020.

Eligibility Criteria

Businesses meeting all of the following eligibility criteria are encouraged to apply:

• Must have been in business for a minimum of one (1) year prior to March 1, 2020
• Applicant is 51% + majority owner of business, 18 years or older
• Owner has or will have a valid EIN & DUNS, as well as a business bank account
• Owner/Applicant is not currently in bankruptcy
• Must demonstrate impacts due to COVID-19 (i.e. has suffered 20% or more decrease in revenue OR 20% or more net income decrease when comparing any three-month period in 2020 (from March to present) to the same months in 2019)
• Must be an existing for-profit business physically located in the Town of Blacksburg, Town of Christiansburg, or Montgomery County and possess a valid business license
• Must be current on all fees, permits and taxes as of the time of application, except when extensions have been granted by one of the localities due to COVID-19
• Must have been in business for a minimum of one (1) year prior to March 1, 2020
• Must have at least a half-time (.5) employee (excluding owner) and no more than 50 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees

The following businesses are not eligible:

• Businesses not currently in operation
• Banks and financial services
• Nonprofit businesses
• Franchise businesses, except those franchises which are locally owned and operated
• Businesses that are permanently closed or engaged in illegal activities

Eligible Grant Uses

Grant funds must be expended in compliance with state and federal law. Funds may be used to reimburse the cost of business interruption caused by required closures, which may include any of the following expenses made after March 15, 2020 (deemed “necessary” expenses for business survival):

• Payroll expenses, including wages or benefits
• Lease or mortgage payments
• Utilities
• Insurance
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) or cleaning supplies or services
• Equipment and inventory purchases
• Technology enhancement (website development/updates, e-commerce, software, laptop, etc.)
• Professional services (accounting, legal, marketing, etc.)
• Other costs associated with response to new market conditions (i.e., furniture to support outdoor dining, develop new product line, etc.)

Ineligible items include anything incurred before March 15, 2020, anything already being reimbursed by other federal or state funds, and anything not deemed ‘necessary.’

Grant Guidelines

• Completion of grant application outlining the use of funds by Sept. 20, 2020
• Maximum amount of grant ranges from $500-$27,500
• One (1) application per business establishment
• Funds will be reviewed by a grant review committee and awarded at one time
  • The review committee will evaluate the applicant’s documents for eligibility. Applications will be automatically rejected if documents are missing, falsified or illegible. Applicants will receive an email notifying them as to whether their online application has been accepted or denied. Accepted applications will be processed for grant distribution. The Economic Development Authority will be distributing checks to successful applicant businesses.
  • Grant distribution is scheduled to begin in October or November 2020, but the distribution timeline may vary depending on the locality administering the grant and on demand.

Maximum funds available per award will be based on full-time equivalent (FTE) employment numbers for businesses, with FTE being 40 hours/week (so two part-time people working 20 hours/week would equal one FTE; or four people working 10 hours/week). The number may include up to one business owner if they work in the business, even if they are not paid wages or salary. The first five FTEs are eligible for $1,000 per FTE, and after that, $500 per FTE for a total maximum award of $27,500.

At the time of application, applicants will need to submit receipts for eligible expenses incurred between March 15 and September 20, 2020, up to the maximum award amount.

Use of funds restrictions: Funds cannot be used to pay taxes, fees or any other payments due to the County or Towns.

Applying for the Grant

Please register through this grants portal to access and complete the grant application. In addition to a completed application, the following documentation is required (application and below documentation due Sept. 20, 2020):

• Loss of Revenue
  • Proof of 20% or more reduction in revenue: sales tax filings or transient occupancy tax filings, or profit and loss statements, for the two time periods (any three-month period in 2020 from March to present to the same months in 2019).
• Loss of Net Income
  • Proof of 20% or more reduction in net income: profit and loss statements, for the two time periods (any three-month period in 2020 from March to present to the same months in 2019).
• Employees
  • Form FC 20 as already submitted to the Virginia Employment Commission for ONE quarter of 2019. You can choose the quarter to submit.
• Eligible Expenditures
  • For mortgage, lease, utility (e.g. APCO, Citizens), or payroll, please attach a copy of the cleared check and a cover page listing the payable expense(s) for each check. For expenditures, provide a copy of the invoice/estimate and proof of payment (or an itemized receipt listed payment could cover both).
• Copy of Business License or Registration
• Form W-9

Funding Source

The U.S. Treasury guidance allows states to use Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) dollars for expenditures “related to the provision of grants to small businesses to reimburse the costs of business interruption caused by required closure.” The Commonwealth of Virginia has elected to disperse a portion of its allocation to local governments. Montgomery County and the Towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg have elected to use part of their allocation to help support small businesses.

Questions?

For more information or questions, please contact grants@blacksburg.gov.

If you have any questions or need assistance with your small business grant application, you can also reach out to one of our community partner organizations for support:

• Downtown Blacksburg Inc., director@downtownblacksburg.com, (540) 808-7550
• Downtown Christiansburg Inc., info@downtownchristiansburg.org
• The Blacksburg Partnership, info@blacksburgpartnership.org, (540) 443-2008
• Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, sscott@montgomerycc.org, (540) 382-3020

 

For more information click here