Starting Wednesday morning, small businesses in West Hollywood with fewer than 50 employees that have NOT received any previous COVID-19 relief funds have a chance to get a $5,000 grant from the City of West Hollywood
Applications for the city’s COVID-19 Small Business Grant Program open Wednesday at 8 a.m. The grants, aimed at assisting small businesses financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis. The application period will be open until Feb. 25 at 5 p.m.
The city has allocated $250,000 in general funds for this Small Business Grant Program. Up to 50 businesses will be able to receive a grant of $5,000 to help with operating expenses and retaining or hiring staff.
To be eligible for the Small Business GrantProgram, a business must meet all of these criteria:
- Have a brick-and-mortar location within the city that a customer can visit.
- Started operating the business prior to March 16, 2020.
- Have 50 or fewer full-time employees.
- Have $2.5 million or less in gross revenues over the previous four quarters based on available data at the time of application.
- Must NOT have received any previous federal, state, or county COVID-19 funding through Dec. 31, 2020.
- Must NOT have received any OUT Zone infrastructure from the city.
- Prove business has applied for federal, state or county COVID-19 relief funding after Jan. 1.
The online application will be available at www.weho.org/business. Applicants will be notified of their grant status by the week of March 8, 2021.
Applicants must upload their current City of West Hollywood Business License; IRS Form 941 documenting number of employees or other documentation showing employees as of December 2020; and most recent tax return filed. Awardees of the Small Business Grantmust also complete the City of West Hollywood’s Grant Agreement.
The City will present an informational webinar about the Small Business GrantProgram application process on Thursday at 10 a.m. for those needing technical assistance. Register online at: https://app.livestorm.co/city-of-west-hollywood/west-hollywood-small-business-grant-program.
For more information this program, please contact the city’s management specialist Paolo Kespradit at pkespradit@weho.org or (323) 848-6556.
For more information about ways the city is working to help businesses, visit www.weho.org/business. Business community members may also subscribe to the city’s weekly COVID-19 Business & Workforce email newsletter by clicking here.
