The first round of federal CARES Act dollars is being released to qualifying Kent County small businesses.
Kent County was awarded more than $114 million through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or CARES Act in April. A subcommittee was formed meeting with community members determining how best to allocate the COVID-19 Relief Fund.
The county Board of Commissioners allocated up to $25 million assisting small business through its Kent County Small Business Recovery Program grants. Tuesday it announced more than 1,300 small businesses qualified for short-term relief grants totaling $5,000 to $20,000 each.
Of the 1,318 qualifying businesses, 36.6% are White/Caucasian-owned, 21.4% are African American/Black, 13.3% Asian, 12.9 percent Hispanic/Latino, 8% multi-racial, 1.4% Middle Eastern and .2% Native American businesses.
The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce administers the program.
So far, 721 grant checks have mailed out totaling $5.9 million dollars. Another 597 businesses will soon share another $4.4 million. The chamber received a total 2,112 applications