Governor Phil Scott, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) and the Department of Taxes today announced an increase to the maximum grant award for Economic Recovery Grants for Vermont businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in the maximum grant award is available to businesses in the lodging, retail, hospitality, arts, travel and event affiliated sectors that have continued capacity constraints.
Previously, businesses could receive up to $50,000 in grant funds. Now, businesses in eligible industries can receive up to an additional $100,000 in grant funding, for a total of $150,000 from the program. The increased maximum award is available both to new applicants to the program and to those businesses that have already received a $50,000 grant.
“We realize how hard this pandemic and the ensuing public health mitigation policies have been on these sectors, which are crucial to the state’s economy,” said Governor Phil Scott. “In raising the limit by $100,000, we hope businesses that were previously capped at $50,000 can now access additional funding to help them survive as the pandemic continues to limit their capacity.”
All businesses that received a $50,000 grant award from the Department of Taxes are eligible to request an increase to the new maximum award amount and can do so through myVTax starting today. ACCD will be contacting eligible businesses that already received a $50,000 grant notifying them this supplemental grant funding may be available to them starting Monday, August 24, 2020.
Businesses that have not yet applied for an Economic Recovery Grant are encouraged to apply if they have experienced losses of at least 50 percent in the months of March to July, 2020 (compared to any one-month period from March to July in 2019). Businesses that may not have been eligible based on earlier months are encouraged to evaluate their losses for the month of July as they may now be eligible. More information can be found at Economic Recovery Grant Program website.
More than $90 million has been awarded to more than 3,500 businesses in 22 different sectors and all 14 counties in Vermont, but there are still funds available.