ARIZONA NEWS
Maricopa County boosts relief grants to $25K to aid struggling businesses
PHOENIX — Maricopa County has only allocated about a tenth of its $23 million from the federal coronavirus relief bill to small businesses and nonprofits struggling through the financial hardships of the coronavirus pandemic.
To distribute aid more quickly, the county is boosting grants from $10,000 to $25,000 per organization.
“In the first version of this program, if you received some other financial assistance along the way, you didn’t qualify,” County Spokesman Fields Moseley told KTAR News 92.3 FM, referring primarily to the Payroll Protection Program.
“Now, we’ve removed that pre-qualification.”
Moseley said recipients can use the money for bills, payroll or rent.
“This is really designed to go to those small nonprofits and small businesses that need the help during this time so they don’t go out of business,” Moseley said.
More than 300 businesses and non-profits shared in $2.4 million in grants during phase one of the Small Business Relief Program in July.
Moseley said supervisors raised the ceiling on the maximum number of employees and gross sales a qualifying business or non-profit can have, and expanded the period to claim eligible lost revenues.
“Supervisors wanted a very flexible, low barrier program that would go out to those businesses
that are small and might not normally qualify for anything,” Moseley added.
“They certainly might not have a bunch of attorneys or help to apply for some of these more complicated
grant or loan programs.”
Grants will be provided on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis until funding is exhausted or the grant period closes. Applications will be accepted from through Oct. 2, 2020.
Shops in Phoenix and Mesa don’t qualify for county funding because their cities have their own coronavirus relief funding.
Those interested in applying for grants can do so online.
