The Northwest Florida Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant Program is still accepting applications from eligible businesses to be recipients of the $5,000 grant awards until such time that the grant funding is depleted. This grant was made possible through a $300,000 contribution from Gulf Power, and it is the second round of funding for the grant program. Please read the requirements to ensure eligibility, and be sure to submit a complete application with proper supporting documentation.
IN ORDER TO QUALIFY YOUR BUSINESS MUST BE:
• A for-profit, privately-held small business that maintains a place of business including physical location (commercial building) in select Northwest Florida Counties and was established on, or before January 1, 2019. Eligible Northwest Florida Counties include Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Jackson, Washington, Calhoun, and Bay. Establishment is determined by registration with the Florida Department of State (“SunBiz”), either as an entity or registered fictitious name. For sole proprietorships which do not require a fictitious name, other sources such as county/city business tax receipts and/or federal tax returns can be used as a substitute.
• Your business must have been profitable in 2019 as indicated in tax returns or financial documents.
• The business must have a demonstrated reduction in sales revenues of 25% or more due to the loss of business income related to COVID-19. Applicant must provide written justification and documented evidence of economic loss or injury caused by the declared disaster, e.g. sales reports or income statements from a previous year compared to the current period.
• The business must be a small business with 11 to 29 employees. The number of employees will be verified using employer documentation (Form W-3, Form 941 or 1099s). Please note, if submitting Form 1099, we will only accept 1099s written out to individual employees, not other businesses.
Please go to https://sbdc.uwf.edu/northwest-florida-covid-19-recovery-grant-program/ for the full details on how to apply. Any reference on the grant application or elsewhere to the original June 12th deadline is no longer applicable.
