The City of Hinesville’s Community Development Department (CDD) announced the opening of applications for the new Small Business Economic Recovery Grant Program, effective Monday at cityofhinesville.org, according to a press release issue by City PR Manager Whitney Morris-Reed.

The program will provide assistance to business owners with the sole purpose of helping small businesses continue operations and keep residents employed in a safe environment. Assistance must be compliant with federal regulations, as US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response (CDBG-CV) funds are being utilized for this program. Eligibility for this program is as follows:

• For-profit Hinesville based businesses in operation as of March 1, 2019.

• Structure may be sole proprietor, partnership, limited liability corporation (LLC), or corporation.

• Business/company must have paid, permanent employees as job retention is a required grant funding result or accomplishment.

• Fifty=one percent of funded positions must be considered low-to-moderate income by HUD guidelines

• Applicant must demonstrate that funding is necessary and sufficient to sustain the business.

• Applicant must be in good standing with City of Hinesville licensing, billing, inspections, ordinances, etc.

• Applicant must be in good standing with all applicable Federal and State regulations, including but not limited to minimum wage, unemployment tax, workers’ compensation, etc. While the goal is to assist businesses as much as possible, there are four priority areas that may be factored in while applications are reviewed:

• Priority will be given to businesses with 10 or fewer employees

• Priority will be given to low-to-moderate income business owners.

• Priority will be given to businesses with several low-to-moderate income staff.

• Priority may be given to businesses within the downtown corridor.

Forty-five grants in the amount of $3,000 are expected to be awarded. Grant funding may be used for employee payroll – payments to the owner are not eligible. Up to 10% of funding received may be utilized for the purchase of masks/face coverings for business use. Funding may be disbursed as reimbursement of recently paid payroll expenses and/or as an advance with proof of payroll payments submitted monthly. The assistance must result in the continued employment of low-to-moderate income individuals. This program/assistance is a grant, which means no repayment is required. However, the recipient will be required to certify that the City’s CDBG-CV assistance is not duplicative of any other funding. To view recipient responsibilities and submission guidelines, please visit https://www.cityofhinesville.org/528/Small-Business-Recovery-Grant. In order to provide assistance to businesses as soon as possible, applications will be reviewed on a weekly basis and awards made until funding is exhausted. Please note: Due to the anticipated response to this opportunity, staff will not provide any feedback regarding the status of applications/submissions. Contact will be limited to businesses selected to move forward in the process.

If you have questions regarding the Small Business Economic Recovery Grant Program, please visit https://www.cityofhinesville.org/528/Small-Business-Recovery-Grant or call 912.876.3564