Funding is still available for the City of Topeka Small Business grant program. In 2020 the City of Topeka Housing Services Division created COVID-19 assistance programs to help small businesses in the community who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. These federal dollars have been, and continue to be a great resource to the businesses who are struggling in Topeka. The City of Topeka has helped 26 small businesses since the program started.
“We have seen a great need in our community for assistance due to the impacts of COVID-19,” said Corrie Wright, Division Director of Housing Services. “The Operation COVID-19 Assistance programs were designed to help our small businesses stay open.”
Applications for the Small Business Grant program were accepted beginning on October 1st, 2020. Nineteen applications have been approved and 39% of the funds have been committed and paid.77% of the recipients of the grant are minority or woman owned businesses. The average grant for approved applicants is $19,090.
The Small Business Grant Program provides operating assistance to sole proprietors and business owners employing 1-25 persons as of March 1st 2020 to keep residents employed. For a business to qualify for this grant they must be owned, or employ low to moderate income persons and demonstrate a need. Applicants can apply up to $20,000 in assistance and are eligible for expenses including payroll, rent/mortgage, utilities, loss of inventory or COVID related purchases.
More information on the COVID assistance programs can be found on the City of Topeka website. https://www.topeka.org/housing-services/covid-assistance-programs/
You can view the full report on the COVID Assistance Programs here: https://cot-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/planning/HSRptJan2021.pdf