County Council has approved the Relaunch Volusia: Small Business Reopening Grant Program!

Volusia County will utilize funds provided by the CARES Act to make direct grants in the amount of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) per qualifying Volusia County small business that submits a timely, complete application, including all requested documentation.

Grants shall be provided, one per qualified small business, on a first-come, first-served basis. 

In order to be eligible to receive a Grant, businesses must meet ALL of the following criteria:

• Business has a physical, “brick-and-mortar” business location in a commercial or industrial space.
• Business has no more than 25 full-time employees, or equivalent part-time employees, including the owner.
• Average total weekly hours of all employees must not exceed 1,000 hours (25 FTE x 40-hour work week)
• Business is not a publicly-traded company or subsidiary of a publicly-traded company. This does not exclude private companies that are franchisees of publicly-traded franchises.
• Business is not a tax exempt organization pursuant to section 501(c) of Title 26 of the United States Code.
• Business is licensed to operate in Volusia County and/or the municipality within Volusia County in which it is located, if such licensure is required.
• Business provides a copy of its business tax receipt effective December 1, 2019, if same was required – Download your Business Tax Receipt here
• Business has an “active” state business registration from Florida Division of Corporations (if required). – Search Sunbiz.org for your business registration
• Business was operational and actively conducting business (and met the criteria listed above) in Volusia County on or before December 1, 2019.
• Business certifies and describes the negative financial impact experienced by the business resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in an amount of at least $3,000 (which was not reimbursed by any program of insurance or other governmental program).
• Business certifies it is not operating in violation of any state, federal or local laws.
• Business has not previously received a Grant from the Reopening Grant Program; only one Grant may be awarded per Tax Identification Number.
• Business has completed an application for the Reopening Grant Program and timely submitted all requested documentation.

Visit VolusiaBusinessResources.com for the application

The grant application will be live on Thursday, May 14 at 9:00 a.m.

County expands COVID-19 small business assistance grant program

Less than a week after Volusia County launched a $10 million grant program to help small businesses recover from the financial impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, more than 1,700 businesses have already applied for the assistance.

And now, even more local businesses will be able to qualify for the county grant after the County Council decided Tuesday to expand the eligibility criteria. Initially, the program was designed to help those small businesses in Volusia County with up to 25 fulltime employees or the equivalent number of part-time employees, or fulltime equivalents (FTEs). On Tuesday, the council agreed to open the grant to businesses with up to 50 fulltime employees or the equivalent number of part-time employees. Council members said those small businesses with slightly larger workforces need the help just as much.

“There are a large number of small businesses that have 35, 40, 50…..employees,” said Volusia County Chair Ed Kelley. “And they’re hurting as bad as the ones with 25 and under – or maybe even worse in some cases.”

The county, which began accepting applications for the small business assistance grant program on May 14, is using coronavirus relief funds that it has received from the federal government as part of the CARES Act to fund the grants. To qualify, businesses must certify that they suffered a financial impact due to COVID-19 and that their net loss after insurance and other governmental assistance grants was greater than $3,000 for business with less than 25 or fewer FTEs and $5,000 if the business is between 26-50 FTEs. Qualifying impacts can be anything from a loss of revenue due to an interruption in business to the cost of installing things like plexiglass dividers, UV sanitizing cabinets and hand sanitizing stations needed to resume normal business operations.

Businesses with up to 25 fulltime employees or the part-time equivalent that meet the eligibility criteria can qualify for a one-time grant of $3,000. With Tuesday’s expansion of the program, eligible businesses with between 26-50 fulltime employees or the part-time equivalent that meet the eligibility criteria can qualify for a one-time grant of $5,000. Council members said they would consider adding more money to the program if the initial $10 million is exhausted.

“We want to get the money in the street as soon as possible,” said council member Deb Denys.

For small businesses to qualify, they must be a physical business located in a commercial or industrial space, licensed to operate in Volusia County or the local city where they’re located if a license is required and were operational and actively conducting business in Volusia County on or before Dec. 1, 2019. Tax exempt businesses and businesses that are either a publicly traded company or a subsidiary of a publicly traded company don’t qualify for the program. The application along with a complete list of qualification criteria can be found on the county’s new Volusia Business Resources web site:

https://www.volusiabusinessresources.com/

The application is filled out online and, on the average, takes about 30 minutes to complete.