Pulaski County’s small businesses may have to wait a bit longer for financial help. The county had asked for $250,000 from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ COVID-19 Response Program to give grants to local businesses.
But Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer told the county commissioners Monday that the state’s program is currently out of money. “There will be a follow-up program with similar opportunities, so we still have the application in,” Origer explained. “We’ll make whatever tweaks we might have to, to meet any changes to the rules. But that program is not dead. It’s just delayed.”
State officials recommended holding off on a public hearing that had been planned for Monday, in case the rules end up changing.
Additionally, Origer pointed out that businesses also have another option for COVID-19 relief. The state is launching is own Small Business Restart Fund tomorrow. It will provide grants of up to $10,000 for qualifying businesses that have lost at least 40 percent of their revenue and aren’t eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program.
Origer said businesses would not be allowed to apply for funding from both the state program and the proposed county program.
