$4.85M available in COVID relief grants. Here’s how Columbus businesses can apply
The Columbus Consolidated Government is distributing more than $4 million in grants to businesses and nonprofits with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP).
Last September, the Columbus Council approved funding priorities for the $39.2 million Muscogee County received in ARP funding, which represents half of the $78.4 million the consolidated government was allocated.
Three grant programs for nonprofits and small businesses received $4.85 million to help those organizations recover from financial challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robert Scott, director of the community reinvestment department, launched a pilot program last year, distributing $4,000 grants for small businesses with money from the CARES Act. Its success motivated the city to expand the small business relief when ARP funds became available, Scott said.
It’s critical for everyone who can take advantage of the grants to do so, Scott said.
“Our mission statement is to develop and unlock the economic, social and human potential in this city,” he said. “And that is something I take extremely seriously.”
The Ledger-Enquirer spoke with Scott about what Columbus residents and business owners should know about the ARP grant programs. Answers may have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What are the types of grants available and who can apply?
A: There are three grants. There’s a small business grant, the nonprofit grant and the hospitality/tourism grant. The small business grant is open to sole proprietors and to those who have under 25 employees.
The nonprofit grant is primarily for nonprofits who are recognized by the IRS as being tax-exempt with a 501(c)(3) designation and have a minimum operating budget of $50,000.
And the hospitality/tourism grant is a little bit of both. It’s for-profit entities as well as some nonprofit tourism or hospitality entities, so both could apply for that program.
Q: How much money is available for each grant, and what can it be used for?
A: Small businesses can seek up to $40,000 in reimbursable expenses for space costs, utility costs and operational retrofitting.
When you think of the word ‘retrofitting’, you’re like ‘what the heck is that?’ Well, all it means is that you made a building modification, like plastic dividers or patios to operate outside, to allow for business to continue during the pandemic.
Space costs are things like rent or mortgage insurance, utilities, internet and landline. The only way it’d be a cell phone is if it’s in a business’ name.
The hospitality/tourism grant has the same conditions as the business grant, and entities may be awarded up to $25,000.
Entities that apply for the nonprofit grant may be awarded up to $25,000.
Altogether, there is $3 million available for small businesses, $1 million for nonprofits, and $850,000 for the hospitality/tourism grants.
Q: Why is it important that the grants fund reimbursable expenses?
A: To be able to be a part of this program, entities definitely need to have an invoice as well as proof of payment. It can’t just be, ‘Oh, I’ve just paid a thousand dollars a month for 12 months, now give me $12,000.”
If you watch the news and on social media, we see PPP loan fraud. The City of Columbus did not want to be a meme. So, in order to protect the integrity of our endeavor, we required those documents to make sure that we are not in the news for awarding people fraudulent money.
Q: How can someone start the application process?
A: The link to the application can be found on columbusga.gov/arp. If you scroll to the middle of the page, you’ll see a section that talks about small business grants, with sections for the hospitality/tourism and nonprofit grants under that.
Q: What are some of the most common errors you see in applications?
A: The very first thing I recommend to any entity thinking about applying for any of the three is to open the “read complete details” link, download it and read it three times. There’s a lot of little pieces that we ask for, so we encourage applicants to read those program overviews to understand.
Documentation is often not sufficient. I would encourage people to highly pay attention to what is being asked for and to make sure that invoices and proof of payment match. Also, make sure expenses being submitted for reimbursement are eligible expenses. Payroll is not an eligible expense.
Another common error that people are making is that they’re taking pictures of documents. We need PDF scans.
Q: How many people have applied so far and when can people expect to start receiving money?
A: As of Feb. 10, the nonprofit program has 85 applications in progress and nine submitted. The small business program has 275 applications in progress with 51 submitted. And the hospitality/tourism program has 28 applications in progress and one submitted.
Currently no money has been distributed. The review team has been reviewing, but we haven’t moved forward yet because we’re still continuing to develop the infrastructure necessary to be able to move applications more expeditiously.
Q: If someone received one of the $4,000 small business grants in the pilot program, can they receive one of the larger, new grants?
A: Yes, if you applied for the pilot program and received the $4,000 then you are still eligible for funding under ARP with a caveat. The caveat being that because you were awarded $4,000 from the pilot, we need to deduct that from the maximum amount under the ARP. Those entities could receive up to $36,000.
Q: Why are these programs so important to Columbus?
A: The COVID-19 virus has continued evolving, so it’s not like we’re out of the woods. We still have to continue to be vigilant because business interruptions could still occur. We’re making investments into small businesses to build back stronger. That way we can have continued business resilience and an increased chance of sustainability for the economic sectors that we are catering to. They’re the job creators.
