The Weld County Board of Commissioners has dedicated $2 million to assist and support Weld County businesses that have closed or reduced services since Sunday, November 1, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The grant program utilizes funds from Weld County’s economic development fund. Upstate Colorado will administer the county’s grant program as it did for two rounds of the CARES fund grant earlier this fall.
“There is no question the pandemic has impacted everyone in various ways,” said Commissioner Chair Mike Freeman. “Our small, public-facing businesses have taken the brunt of negative impacts due to state policy changes, and it is the desire of this board to provide relief to those businesses which serve as the core of our communities,” Mike said.
This new round of grants is focused on providing financial relief to businesses that have been affected by state restrictions from restaurants and bars to other food and beverage service providers, live event venues, movie theaters, gyms and fitness centers, bowling centers, arcades, and other recreation facilities.
Weld County created an economic development fund using unclaimed property taxes nearly ten years ago. The fund is used to support local businesses through programs including the county’s Small Business Incentive Program, the Colorado Enterprise Fund Loan Program, the Small Business Development Center, Upstate Colorado, and more.
“This grant program aims to provide relief quickly to help these small businesses make it through the next few months, in particular,” said Mike. “That’s why we’ve directed Upstate to open the application process now and start awarding grants before the end of the month,” Mike said.
For more information regarding applying for financial relief from Weld County’s newest round of grants, visit: https://weldrecovery.com