Tucker is currently accepting applications for roughly $2.3 million in small business and nonprofit grants as part of a coronavirus relief program.
The city’s application window began last Monday, and business owners can apply for grants of $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000, according to the city. The money must be used to pay expenditures incurred as a result of the pandemic between March 1 and Dec. 20.
Businesses that are eligible for the relief money must have fewer than 200 employees and must have been doing business in Tucker since Jan. 7. For a nonprofit to be eligible, it must be registered as a 501 (C)(3) or 501(C)(6).
The grant money can be used toward costs related to the required shutdown, profits lost due to increased safety measures and to offset decreased customer demand due to the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has been very detrimental to some of these businesses, and we want to keep these businesses here and help them during this difficult time,” Tucker Assistant City Manager John McHenry previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Helping the businesses helps keep people employed and helps the local economy.”
McHenry is overseeing the grant program, which will use more than half of the city’s $4.1 million allocation of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds. DeKalb County shared roughly a fourth of its $125 million of federal CARES Act funds with its 12 cities.
In addition to the grant program, Tucker has budgeted roughly $900,000 to go to NETWorks Cooperative Ministries for housing, food and financial assistance, $500,000 for a distance leaning program for children and $156,000 for personal protective equipment purchases. The city’s remaining $274,000 of funds is currently unallocated but must be spent by Dec. 10. Any unspent funds will go back to the county.
The city is partnering with Local Initiatives Support Corp. to coordinate the grant applications. More information on the program is available at www.tuckerga.gov/CARESAct. To apply, call 404-689-4034 or email grants@caresact.com.
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