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Charlotte County still has small business grants available to county business, but only for the next few weeks. After that, companies could be left without funding that would potentially help them stay afloat.

In October, the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted to approve the Charlotte County CARES Business Recovery Grant Program, funded by the federal CARES Act and use $150,000 to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, Dec. 1, County Administrator Dan Witt said there were 16 businesses that applied for grant funding. Four of those applicants were approved and have received grants totaling $3,000 each, leaving the county with $138,000 to give out before Dec. 31.

Witt said 12 remaining applications and any additional applications that are received before the Dec. 9 deadline will be considered at the Dec. 14 BOS meeting.

“If a Charlotte County small business applies and submits a completed application and is found to be eligible, the business will be awarded a grant,” Witt said.

According to Witt, the grant amounts are based on the number of full-time employees and range from $3,000 to $10,000.

“The businesses that have been applying are smaller and have less than 10 employees,” Witt said. “These are the ones impacted the most by the pandemic.”

Witt further commented that some businesses in the county have not struggled, but have excelled during the pandemic. 

The Business Recovery Grant Program is a fund to offer financial assistance to businesses whose operations were either closed or restricted by Virginia in response to the coronavirus.

This micro-grant program will assist county businesses by providing needed cash for working capital to support rent, mortgage payments, utility expenses, or other similar expenses that occur in the ordinary course of business.

To be eligible for the grant, businesses must:

• Be physically located in Charlotte County.

• Have been in business since March 1.

• Have at least $20,000, but no more than $2 million in annual gross revenues

• Have between one and 100 full-time employees (or equivalent FTEs) as of March. 1.

• Business owners should count themselves as one employee

• List and provide a description of qualifying expenses

• Agree to release tax information

• Submit a signed W-9

• Certify that the business is currently open or plans to reopen

• Must be able to demonstrate a loss in revenue that can be attributed to COVID-19 by completing a financial statement of Impact form; and/or, must be able to demonstrate expenses incurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Be current on any and all county taxes prior to grant disbursement

• Submit a copy of the payroll protection program (PPP) or economic injury disaster loan emergency advance (EIDL) applications, if applicable

Business must be able to produce supporting documentation for number of employees, financial loss and other eligibility.

Nonprofit organizations are not eligible for this program.

Eligible businesses can find an application located on the county website at charlotteva.com.