Greece Town Supervisor Bill Reilich is pleased to announce Round 2 of funding for the GROW Greece COVID-19 Small Business Assistance Grant. The program opened on June 2nd of this year with $100,000 in funding available to help small retail and service businesses reopen in the wake of economic losses associated with the COVID-19 health crisis. Supervisor Reilich and the Greece Town Board have allocated an additional $100,000 to fund a second round.
“Round 1 of the program was a huge success!” said Supervisor Reilich. We were able to use these federal funds to help many of our local businesses move forward with reopening in the wake of mandatory shutdowns. The program opened on June 2nd to a huge response from local business owners, and we knew right away we needed to take action and fund a second round. The GROW Greece program is just getting started and these grants are only the first phase in a developing long-term strategy to sustain and continue to “GROW” our strong local economy”.
Round 2 of the program makes funding available to more businesses and participation will be even easier than before. Grants will cover two months’ worth of certain operating expenses needed to restart your business, up to $5,000 for businesses with 5 to 50 employees, or $2,000 for businesses with 3-5 employees. Eligible expenses include insurance, utilities, and inventory costs based on figures reported in your most recently filed federal tax return. The town will begin accepting applications on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, and awards will be granted on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted.
Program materials are available on the town’s website at https://greeceny.gov/economic-development.
For more information, please contact GROW Greece at economicdevelopment@greeceny.gov or by calling (585) 723-2344.
Round 2 grant funds have been allocated by the Town Board from a supplement to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.