Governor Inslee is offering a new Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant program to assist small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Up to $5 million in funds are provided through the Governor’s Strategic Reserve Fund and administered by the State Department of Commerce. The grant program will provide a limited number of businesses in Washington’s 39 counties with a grant up to $10,000.
Process
- Small businesses that qualify for the grant program will submit applications through their local county/regional economic development organizations.
- Emails for submitting completed applications to these economic development organizations are listed to the right.
- County/regional economic development organizations will prioritize applications based on the severity of the impact the business is facing due to COVID-19, including from being forced to close by the government-mandated closures, social distancing measures or illness.
- Recommended awards will be sent to the Department of Commerce for review and vetting.
- Qualifying applications will be forwarded to the Governor for review and signature.
- Your local ADO will administer approved awards to the successful company.
- Awards will be approved on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on the availability of funds. The objective is to support businesses through the crisis and enable them to retain as many employees as possible.
Eligibility
- Applicants should have been in business for at least one year.
- Businesses with up to 10 full-time employees (FTEs) may apply for a one-time grant of up to $10,000.
- Funding is not meant to help launch a business, but to support existing businesses who are specifically affected by the COVID-19 crisis and are vital members of their local community.
- Applicants are eligible to receive one Working Washington Grant award during the current budget cycle, which ends on 06/30/2021.
Grant Awards
- County/regional economic development organizations will be asked to verify the size of candidate companies prior to submission.
- For each award, local economic/development organizations are encouraged to be judicious in discerning an appropriate and proportional amount based on necessity to the business and the business’ importance to the local community so as to ensure that this emergency resource can be utilized by companies across communities