A $250,000 grant fund to help Montgomery County businesses and nonprofits adapt to teleworking in the age of the coronavirus has been popular, so the County Council is providing another $1.25 million.
More than 119 small businesses and nonprofits in Montgomery County are set to receive $250,000 in grants from the county. The money will help cover technology costs of having employees work remotely during the public health crisis.
The county created the $250,000 grant fund in partnership with the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC).
The County Council on Thursday unanimously approved adding $1.25 million.
The county has received 418 applications requesting a total of $868,000 in telework grants. Of those, 382 applications were processed.
More than 260 were approved to take part in the grant lottery system, which makes random draws for the grants. The county will repeat the lottery process weekly.
The average grant amount of applicants who were approved was $1,865.
Businesses and nonprofits that don’t make the lottery will be placed into the lottery drawing for the following week.
Council Member Andrew Friedson said the lottery adds fairness to the program.
“[These funds] will allow them to continue the lotteries that are done at random,” he said. “Anybody who has applied over the course of the week has access to be randomly selected if they are preapproved.”
Marilyn Balcombe, president and CEO of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce, told the council during a public hearing that the additional funds were needed to meet the requests from the business community.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear from our small businesses who have not been able to tap support funds,” she said. “The need for financial support continues for our small businesses.”
Bill Tompkins, executive vice president and COO of the MCEDC, said the most popular items requested for reimbursement were computers, printers, cables and smartphones.
“Depending on how they ask for [smartphones], they are an approvable expense,” he said.
In addition to the telework grants, the council also unanimously approved an appropriation of $4.4 million for Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Solutions Grant funding.
The funds came from the federal government which awarded the money to respond to the health emergency under the CARES Act.
Of the funds, $1.96 million will go to rental assistance. It will provide up to $500 per month for a maximum of three months to low-income households with 63% of the area median income — which is about $79,600 for a family of four.
The emergency homeless system will receive $1.44 million to help cover costs related to the pandemic.
Another $1 million from the funds will be used to administer a grant program for small businesses. The business owners must have a low-income household and the business must have five or fewer employees.
Briana Adhikusuma can be reached at briana.adhikusuma@moco360.media.
