IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Riverside will provide grants of up to $7,500 to small businesses to help them get through the COVID-19 crisis.
The city council last week approved the Small Business Emergency Microgrant Stabilization Program, which will use $1.87 million in recent U.S, Community Development Block Grant funds to provide the grants, according to a statement on the city’s website.
The money will provide working capital to approximately 250 Riverside businesses that have five or fewer employees and are owned and operated by individuals with low to moderate incomes.
“We know that many small businesses have struggled to remain open during the state-issued ‘stay at home’ order,” Mayor Rusty Bailey said in the statement. “For many businesses, these funds will be a lifeline.”
The program does not affect Riverside’s block grant funds program.
Council members unanimously approved a plan for starting the program in partnership with the United Way of the Inland Valleys. Discussions are underway to determine how United Way can administer the program, disburse the money and make certain it is used properly.
More information, including how to apply for assistance, will be released when the program is completed.
