GRAFTON LAUNCHES SMALL BUSINESS STIMULUS

CLICK HERE FOR THE GRANT APPLICATION

Grants are funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and are only available for capital improvement projects for Grafton small businesses, connected to a business-model adjustment to respond to complications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

All grants are due by October 31, 2024.

Grant guidelines can be found here

Submit completed grant applications to alipian@villageofgrafton.org

Program:

The Village of Grafton American rescue Plan Act Small Business Stimulus

Proposal:

The Village of Grafton requests the creation of a $200,000 fund that will be used to assist small, independent (not franchised) businesses in Lorain County that have been negatively impacted or have faced hardship due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and its related effects on the economy. The source of this fund will be from a portion of the allotment of funds that The Village of Grafton received following the passage of H.R. 1319 United States Congress, also known as the American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA.

Process:

There will be a single, four-week application window to apply for a grant. The first will open on Wednesday, Oct 3, 2024 at 8:00 AM and will close on Wednesday, Oct 31, 2024 at 4:00 PM. Applications will be reviewed and approved by the Village of Grafton Council and Mayor at a regularly scheduled Council Meeting and checks will be distributed via U.S. Mail after an award letter is sent from The Village of Grafton Council and/or receipts have been received by The Village from the awardee indicating the improvements which funds were applied for was completed. Awards will be considered on a first come, first served basis, based on the timestamp of their application.

If there are remaining funds available following the first and only round of awards, the remainder of the money will be allocated to another use by council in accordance with H.R. 1319 US Congress. Applications will be reviewed and approved by The Village of Grafton Council and Mayor at a regularly scheduled meeting. If there are conditional use permits or other procedural mandates as a result of the award, the funds will be allocated at the conclusion of a successful permit, conditional use, or other such approval process. It is recommended that applications requiring such be submitted along with any conditional use or other permits. Projects may be funded in whole, or in part, as determined by Council (under $100k).

The funds will be distributed as a grant as checks of $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000, etc. Grants will be awarded on a case-by-case basis after review by The Village of Grafton Administration, and approval from Village Council. A disclaimer/statement will be placed in the application acknowledging that each request will be subject to approval from Village Council. Following approval, funds will then be disbursed to awarded applicants through The Village of Grafton office of the Clerk-Treasurer. Businesses will be required to submit receipts of use of funds prior to December 31st, 2025 to the Community Development Department. All awarded funds must be distributed by December 31st, 2026, or they will be returned.

Eligibility of applicants and maximum amount of funds awarded will be determined by a scoring rubric based on importance as identified in the H.R. 1319 US Congress “Final Rule.” (See Appendix A)

The grants will be marketed to interested applicants on the village website (www.villageofgrafton.org), social media (LinkedIn or Facebook), local publications, and with the assistance of our community partners, e.g. Lorain County Growth Partnership, The Village of Grafton Main Street, and Lorain County Community Development. The application will be available as a fillable form on the Village website and the Village Administration will maintain paper applications at 960 Main Street, Grafton, OH, 44044. (See Appendix B)

Eligibility Guidelines, Award Rubric (Appendix A)

Program Parameters: To be eligible to receive grant funds from this account, a small business must meet the following qualifications:

Applicants must also indicate how their business has been negatively impacted or affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic and indicate how they intend to use the potential grant dollars pursuant to the ARPA funding guidelines set forth by the United States Government to alleviate those negative impacts. Funding guidelines can be found at the United States Department of the Treasury website linked here. Applicant may be required to submit a stamped plan – this expense can be paid as part of the grant, if awarded.

Ineligible businesses include:

  • Franchises or “chain” restaurants with more than three (3) locations, storefronts, etc.
  • Vice or adult businesses such as: liquor stores, gambling houses, arcades, tobacco/vape/cigar shops, sexually oriented businesses (exceptions to the rule may apply to bars, so long as funds are requested for the serving of food, and not expansion of serving alcohol, for example)
  • Multi-level marketing operations
  • Professional Services such as: Real Estate, Law, or Accounting Firms
  • Banks, Credit Unions, Payday Lenders

The highest awardee of points will have the most money allocated to their project, with amounts to be recommended to Council, based on the following rubric:

Grant Points (To Rank)10,00020,00030,00040,000
Accumulated Based On:-Revenue up to $100,000 OR -Responding to challenges from Covid-19 (narrative-based) which include a change to the business model (examples include providing a new service or  convenience). -Home-Based Businesses -GRAFTON-BASED non-profit-Revenue from $100,001 – $500,000 OR -The expansion, renovation or proposed new business model includes activity in the following types of business categories:  -Access to Food (nutrition, grocery stores, etc) -Education (for-profit) -Tourism -Travel -Hospitality (restaurants, lodging, recreation/entertainment) -staffs essential workersRevenue from $500,001 – $1,000,000 OR -Includes increased administrative costs to implement new business model (requiring new staff/hiring to accommodate) -Requires new technology/convenience infrastructure (for example, to support remote work, delivery of services, no-contact services or window-services) -Water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure included in request– Revenue from $1,000,001 – $4,000,000 AND – Health or Healthcare Business model (example: pharmaceutical, medical research, hospital, hospice care, etc) -Occupational Risk Category (employees have higher risk of infection or mortality due to Covid-19)

Disclaimer: Eligibility will be determined by The Village of Grafton Administration, Village Council and Mayor. In the event of a tie in points, the Mayor will break the tie and recommend, in hierarchical order, the amounts for the grant recommended to council. For each of the hyphened items (“-“), the allotment of points in the “grant points” horizontal column will be accumulated (for example, under the 20,000 point column, industries that are both hospitality and travel would get 40,000 points, so the effects can stack).

  • Council may approve grants in addition to the $200,000 proposal, so long as they vote to do so before the last Village Council meeting in December, 2024 – determined on a case-by-case basis.

Thank you for participating in The Village of Grafton Small Business ARPA Grant Program. Good Luck!

-The Village of Grafton Admin Team

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