$75 Million in Financial Grants to Oregon Small Business Coming Available

The Oregon legislature and Governor Brown approved $20 million more to Business Oregon’s Emergency Business Assistance Grant Fund. The application for this new round of funds will be available beginning this Thursday on Business Oregon’s website. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come first-served basis.

The grants are available to small businesses that have seen lost revenue due to the pandemic, and that meet a minimal set of requirements.

Businesses are eligible to receive up to $200,000 in grant funding as detailed in the grant application. To be eligible, a business must show it was prohibited from operations by the Governor’s Executive Order 20-12, or demonstrate a 25% reduction in sales over a 30-day period in 2020 compared to a comparable period in 2019.

This Thursday, the application form and additional details will be found on Business Oregon’s website in multiple languages. Grants will be reviewed on a first-come first-served basis, and will be allocated so that there is an equitable geographic distribution of funds as dictated by the Oregon Legislature. 

Visit Business Oregon’s website here for more information.

Governor Brown also announced that the state will commit $55 million in financial assistance to support Oregon businesses who have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. These funds will be allocated to counties to distribute to businesses who have been financially impacted, with a priority for the hospitality industry, businesses impacted by the freeze, small businesses, and women, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and Tribal-owned businesses.

The $55 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds will be allocated to counties, with each county receiving a base of $500,000 plus a per capita allocation of the remainder of the funds. The counties will be responsible for deciding how businesses apply to receive funds and communicating the application process to businesses.

The Governor’s Office anticipates that funds will be distributed to counties within the next several weeks. Businesses who are interested in applying should contact their county for more information. 

Read full press release here.