ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — To help struggling small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg have both launched their own financial assistance programs.
In St. Pete, there is the Fighting Chance Fund, which gives emergency grants to the city's locally owned and independently operated small businesses that have seen a negative financial impact due to the pandemic.
The city says the fund is expected to provide critical support to about 1,000 restaurants, bars, retail and service-based businesses and their more 3,000 eligible employees. The Fighting Chance Fund will give eligible businesses a $5,000 grant and $500 to eligible individuals.
Qualifying businesses must be physically established within the city limits, have 25 or fewer employees, and show a loss of revenue due to COVID-19, among other criteria.
Eligible individuals must be a current or former employee of an eligible small business, live within the St. Pete city limits, and have been terminated, furloughed or experienced a salary reduction of at least 50% after March 17,2020.
You can find a full breakdown of the eligibility criteria and a list of what you will need to apply for these grants on the city's website.
Across the bay, the City of Tampa launched its One Tampa: Relief Now, Rise Together program, which will provide up to $4,000 for rent or mortgage to eligible businesses, as well as up to $1,000 for utilities.
The city says this program is for businesses that were established and successful prior to the pandemic, but had to close their doors due to the safer at home orders. On the program's website, it says the relief program does not have sufficient funding to cover businesses that were already struggling financially prior to the pandemic.
To qualify, businesses need to be located in one Tampa's designated "Low-Income Census Tract Zones" or a "Community Redevelopment Area," have an annual revenue of less than $250,000 and experienced a 50% reduction in revenue since the coronavirus crisis began, among other criteria.
You can find a full breakdown of the eligibility criteria and a list of information you will need when applying on the City of Tampa's website.
The One Tampa: Relief Now, Rise Together fund was also open to help eligible residents with up to $1,000 for rent or mortgage and up to $250 for utilities. The online application process for individuals and families closed after the city received 10,000 inquiries on the first day of applications. Available program funds were quickly committed and according to the city's website, individuals will be notified of the outcome of their applications within the next 10 days or less.
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