Greenfield has led the charge to secure a $690,000 Community Development Block Grant for 25 county towns, including itself, to create a Regional Micro-enterprise Assistance program to help small businesses that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
“I believe strongly that regional collaboration will help to strengthen our resilience as a city and support our collective economic recovery,” Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said. “I’m thrilled the city is able to take the lead here in providing this crucial assistance to local small businesses that are working hard to get back to normal, but are facing challenges.”
Small businesses can apply for micro-enterprise assistance grants of up to $10,000 to cover documented business losses that were not covered by other funding programs.
Businesses that are eligible include those with five or fewer employees, including the owner; businesses whose owners have an income less than 80 percent of the median income recognized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, adjusted by household size; for-profit businesses with a physical presence in the county; and businesses that provide goods or services to multiple clients or customers.
Businesses applying for loans must also be in good standing with the state and city or town, and must have been established prior to Jan. 1, 2019 and currently be in operation to the extent allowable under the state’s reopening requirements or be actively planning to reopen. They must also have annual sales greater than $20,000 a year.
For more information, call 413-772-1548 or visit bit.ly/2ZOgXni.