The Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce and local government leaders have teamed up to create a small business relief fund that will provide grants to small businesses in Montgomery negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The grants will be administered through the Chamber’s nonprofit foundation, and the pool of money to be given away is being supplied by the generosity of local companies and individuals.
Donors who wish to increase the fund’s capacity can donate online.
Applications for the grants go live on June 1. The Chamber says most grants will be in amounts between $3,000 to $5,000 and they will be capped at $7,500.
After going live on June 1, Montgomery small businesses will have until June 15 or when the money runs out to submit their applications for a grant.
To be eligible for the grants, businesses must employ one to 25 workers or regularly use one to 25 independent contractors.
Only companies within the city of Montgomery and Montgomery County will be considered for grants. An exception is available for firms that are headquartered nearby but conduct operations in Montgomery. Such firms must provide documentation of their doings within Montgomery.
The officials with whom the Chamber collaborated in creating the relief fund are Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, City Council President Charles Jinright and County Commission Chairman Elton Dean.
Jinright and Dean are part of Reed’s task force dedicated to the city’s economy during the pandemic.
“[O]ur goal with the creation of our Economic Impact Task Force has been to chart an effective path forward for Montgomery’s economy,” remarked Reed in a statement provided by the Chamber.
Mayor Reed’s office is providing some of the money in the fund.
“These businesses are facing unprecedented challenges each day as they work to maintain operations, serve their customers, and support their employees. It is our hope to assist as many of these businesses as we can as our community works to recover from this crisis,” said Chamber Foundation chairman Willie Durham.
“Small businesses make up the very fabric of our community and the Small Business Relief Fund, led by the Chamber Foundation, is the next critical step in Montgomery’s effort to not only recover together, but to emerge from this crisis with even more momentum than before,” added the mayor.
The current size of the fund could not be gathered.
Businesses in need of learning more about the grants ahead of applications opening on June 1 can go here.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
