West Hartford is offering a grant program to small businesses and nonprofits for recovery projects following the COVID-19 pandemic, which is set to launch later this month.
The West Hartford Town Council recently approved its Small Business and Non-Profit Recovery Grant program. Town officials will kick it off with an informational webinar at 9 a.m. July 6.
The town said the grant program will provide one-time direct financial assistance up to $10,000 to eligible West Hartford businesses and nonprofit organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees who have been adversely impacted by the pandemic.
The Town Council in its June 28 meeting allocated $2 million to support this program, which includes entitlement funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Town officials said the grant program operates on a reimbursement basis for two types of eligible projects: a COVID-19 Relief Assistance Grant for businesses or organizations that can demonstrate negative impacts from COVID-19, or a New or Enhanced Program Assistance Grant for new initiatives directly responding to the negative impact of the pandemic.
Eligibility requirements and the application can be found here.
Applicants can begin to apply for the grant program at 8:30 a.m. on July 20 and the window to submit will be open until 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 10.
In addition to next week’s webinar, the town will host another virtual informational session at 6 p.m. on July 12.
Interested businesses can also make an appointment with Denise Whitford, business advisor with the Connecticut Small Business Development Center, at Town Hall on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Whitford can be reached at 860-576-5135 or by email at denise.whitford@uconn.edu to schedule an appointment. Anyone with questions can also send an email to ARPAgrants@westhartfordct.gov.
