LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Tuesday that nearly $100 million in critical relief funding has been allocated to help more than 14,000 small businesses across the state to date through the Michigan Small Business Restart Grant.
“Families across the state depend on small businesses for their livelihood, and these grants, combined with additional COVID-19 business relief efforts offered by the MEDC, have helped to create a strong foundation for Michigan’s long-term economic recovery,” said Whitmer. “By putting federal funding to work for Michigan’s small businesses and additional COVID-19 relief efforts, we have made a real impact on our families and our communities.”
While this funding has helped thousands of businesses in Michigan, Whitmer said work still needs to be done.
“We still need the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to work across the aisle on a bipartisan recovery package that will provide support for our families, frontline workers, and small businesses,” Whitmer said. “I will continue working with all of our partners, both at the federal and the state level, to get this done for our small business owners.”
So far, $95.6 million has been awarded through the Michigan Small Business Restart Grant, which allocated $100 million of federal CARES Act funding back in July. The grant provides support to the state’s small businesses and nonprofits that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The funding was distributed across 15 local or nonprofit economic development organizations (EDOs) covering all 83 counties in the state for grants up to $20,000 to support certain small businesses and nonprofits that have realized a significant financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a release from the Office of the Governor. “Of the businesses that received grants, 4,617 reported as minority-owned, 6,314 reported as woman-owned, and 743 reported as veteran-owned, with some businesses selecting multiple categories.”
The grants can be used as working capital for payroll, rent, mortgage, utilities and more.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has launched 19 coronavirus relief and recovery programs. According to the State, these programs have supported more than 18,500 businesses and helped retain nearly 147,000 jobs.
To learn more about these recovery efforts, click here.
Related video:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.