State Treasurer John Schroder tells lawmakers he’s looking to distribute grants of up to $15,000 to small businesses by December. The money is coming from federal coronavirus relief aid and Schroder says there are an estimated $450,000 small businesses who could be eligible.
“It is going to be very important that the direct outreach happens,” said Schroder.
For the first 21 days, only businesses with one to 49 employees as of March 1st that have received no federal aid can apply. Schroder hopes the first checks will be sent in July.
The 300 million dollars set aside from the program is drawn from 1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief dollars sent to the state. Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt noted the math.
“I mean the average for 450,000 businesses, and we have 300 million dollars allocated, that’s like 600 dollars per business,” said Hewitt.
Not all businesses who qualify may receive grants if the fund runs out. Schroder says the program will hand out grants on a first come first served basis based on the date upon which the company applied.
“That’s the only way we can do it, I mean the feds went back like three times because they ran out of money?” says Schroder.
40 million dollars of the program has been set aside specifically for veteran, women, and minority-owned businesses.
Comments