A recent grant program offering reimbursements for COVID-19 related expenses has netted 12 Rio Vista businesses a total of over $100,000, according to the Solano County Workforce Development Board.
Solano County received $46 million in CARE Relief Funds due to COVID-19, and in turn allocated $2 million to the Rebuild Solano’s Small Business Grant Program. The program was administered in a partnership between the WDB and the Solano Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
The small businesses eligible to apply included those that were for-profit businesses, locally owned in Solano County, and could demonstrate a need for funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic health emergency. The grant awards were issued based on eligibility and altogether, the grantees represented sixteen different industry sectors, including food service & accommodations, arts & entertainment, healthcare, education, administrative & professional services, and transportation & warehousing. Amongst the grant proposals, PPE and sanitation supplies were common requests across all industries, as was equipment to allow for remote work capabilities and new Point of Sale systems for online ordering.
The program was created with four Priority Areas where the grants were targeted:
1. Geographic Location (Vallejo, Suisun City, and Rio Vista)
2. Industry based financial risk (Transportation, manufacturing, administrative and support).
3. Businesses with less than 20 employees.
4. Minority-owned businesses.
The Rio Vista Chamber of Commerce was asked to partner with the Solano WDB to promote the grant program and improve responses from local businesses, since they felt that Rio Vista businesses were not taking advantage of various COVID relief programs. Board members actively solicited and assisted with completion of grant applications for several businesses, resulting in a total of 16 businesses participating.
Among the Rio Vista businesses receiving grants in various amounts were: 2nd Street Gym, Brain Ways, Brass Dogs, Burgerlicious, Hwy 12 Diner, Lucy’s Café, Lupe Finch Nutrition Coach, New Image Salon, Rio Vista Insurance and Financial Services, The Point Restaurant, Top Notch Painting & Restoration, and Tortilla Flats.
A total of 550 grant applications were received from Solano County small businesses, and 218 were selected for partial or full awards of their requests. Of the awardees, 94% have an employee count under 20, and 85% are minority owned.
The grant application cycle ran from Sept. 15-30, for COVID-related expenses incurred from May through November 2020.
