The California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant will open Dec. 30. A total of $475 million will be available in two rounds. Round one will distribute $237 million and opens at 6 a.m. Dec. 30 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 8.

Sierra Business Council’s Small Business Development Center is working with our statewide development center network to provide information and technical assistance to applicants. A daily webinar with updates to the program including eligibility requirements, application process, required documents and who to contact for assistance will be conducted daily at 11 a.m. starting Christmas Eve. Registration information for these webinars are available at https://asksbdc.com.

Lendistry will act as the intermediary to administer and distribute the funds. The application is not available yet, but information can be found at this link https://careliefgrant.com.

Brief highlights of the program:

· Grant amounts range from $5,000 to $25,000 based on annual revenue.

· Minimum annual revenue $1,000

· Maximum revenue $2.5 million

· Eligible entities include small businesses and nonprofits (501c3 and c6) with yearly gross revenue of $2.5 million or less

· In operation since at least June 1, 2019

· Businesses must be currently operating or have a plan to reopen in California

· Must have a physical location in California

· Business must have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic

· Business must be able to provide most recent tax return (2018 or 2019), evidence of business formation/organization such as articles of incorporation, fictitious business name registration or business license

· Applicants with multiple businesses are only eligible for one grant

· Awards are not first come first serve

· Awards will be selected based on a weighted lottery with priority given to most impacted communities, industry sectors and disadvantaged businesses

Source: Sierra Business Council