The Downtown Long Beach Alliance and Farmers & Merchants Bank are teaming up to provide 30 micro-grants worth $1,000 to Downtown businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced today.
The grants will be awarded to Downtown Long Beach small business owners who meet certain qualifications, including attendance at an online small business resiliency workshop and a one-on-one consulting session with a small business development advisor.
Other qualifications:
- The business must be located within the Downtown PBIA boundaries
- It must be a for-profit business
- It must be impacted by COVID-19
- It must have 50 or fewer employees
- It must be a ground-floor business in the food and beverage, retail, personal grooming, health/wellness and entertainment sectors
- Preference will be given to underrepresented communities
Originally F&M bank committed to fund grants for three years to women-owned business and to the DLBA’s entrepreneurial and small business education series, both slated for early summer.
“As the COVID-19 health crisis forced many businesses to close their doors or alter their operations, we quickly pivoted and came together with F&M to re-purpose this program and provide economic relief in the form of micro-grants,” DLBA Executive Director Kraig Kojian said in a statement.
Businesses interested in applying should email Austin Metoyer at [email protected].