The City of Knox is seeing some interest in its COVID-19 grant program for local businesses.
Mayor Dennis Estok told the city council Tuesday that 16 businesses have applied for a share of the $250,000 available, and the Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission has determined that all of them meet the initial qualifications. Another four applications are still pending, and Estok expects a few more to come in by Friday’s deadline.
“Once the deadline, we get them in, we send them down to KIRPC,” Estok explained. “They verify the income levels meet the low-to-moderate income. That’s one qualification. Then, they will go to the [city’s] committee to go through all the apps and start ranking them, as far as determining how much money, as far as grant-wise, that each business is going to receive.”
For example, Estok said that businesses with several employees that lost 100-percent of their revenue will likely get more than those with fewer employees that were able to stay open. “Hopefully, everybody that applies gets a little piece of the pie,” the mayor said. “But there will be different amounts, and that’s why I’m telling everybody right now, you will get ranked.”
One of the challenges is that the guidelines have changed multiple times, even after the city began sending them out to businesses. “One was the sole proprietor,” Estok said. “At first, they could not apply. I said, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘In Knox, Indiana, probably 80 percent of our businesses are sole proprietors.'” Estok said that sole proprietors are now allowed to apply, even if they don’t issue W-2s to themselves.
Another barrier is the household income survey employees have to fill out. The mayor stressed that the survey doesn’t require a lot of personal information, and any information that is gathered is kept confidential.
Businesses seeking funding through the program have until this Friday at 4:00 p.m. to fill out an application. Estok hopes businesses will start getting their money in two to three weeks.
