Prince William accepts 2nd round of coronavirus-recovery grant applications

Small business owners in Prince William County will have a second chance at a grant to help them recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Board of County Supervisors authorized the second round of grants for small businesses, this time with different eligibility requirements. Last month, the county allocated $5 million from its federal CARES Act grant signed by President Donald Trump to use as small business relief.

The county awarded $1.2 million in grants to about 150 county businesses. With the $3.8 million left over, the county has reopened the application process to sole proprietorships, mainly home-based businesses have one full-time employee but also use contracted help.

“Originally, we had a minimum requirement of three employees, but a lot of businesses are set up as sole proprietorships, and they didn’t bother applying because they saw they weren’t eligible,” said Prince William County Economic Development Director Christina Winn.

The Board of County Supervisors also reduced cap on gross receipts to be eligible for the grants, from $3 million to $2.5 million.

The county provided us with additional details about the grants and about the application process:

Eligibility requirements for round two have been expanded to include home-based businesses and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The maximum gross receipts for eligibility has also been increased from $1 million to $2.5 million. Applications are currently open and will stay open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, 2020.

The Prince William County Department of Economic Development, along with the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, will review grant applications for eligibility and obtain any needed additional information.

To be eligible for a small business relief grant, organizations must:

Employ 50 or fewer people in Prince William County.
Have gross receipts less than $2.5 million.
Be experiencing business disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business who applied for round one, but did not meet the eligibility requirements, do not need to apply again and will automatically be considered for round two.

The application and a full list of eligibility requirements and can be found at princewilliamcounty.biz.

Grants in the amount of $2.500 will be awarded to home-based businesses, while companies with between one and 25 employees will be eligible for up to $7,500, and companies with between 25 and 50 employees will be eligible for grants up to $10,000.

Winn told elected officials she expects the $7,500 and $10,000 grants will be 80% and 20% of the grants awarded, respectively.

Adult entertainment stores and vape shops are ineligible to apply, the Board of County Supervisors decreed.