Atascadero small business emergency grant checks are on their way
–The City of Atascadero has announced that the Atascadero Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant checks have been printed and are being signed and assembled for mailing. The city has approved 63 applications and most of these businesses will be receiving their checks from the city over the next day or two, according to the city.
With the most recent stay-at-home order, the shutdown of many business categories including all on-site dining, personal services (barbers, hairdressers, nail salons etc.), fitness centers, dance studios, family entertainment/theaters, and related uses has been devastating. Restaurants, breweries, wineries, coffee shops, and other food and beverage services may now only operate on a delivery or to-go basis. The business community of Atascadero is vitally important to the city and the Atascadero City Council continually strives to work together with business owners towards supporting a vibrant place for residents to work and shop. The grant program was designed to support small businesses impacted by the financial impacts of the most recent regional stay at home order.
On Dec. 15, 2020, the council had passed a resolution authorizing the use of $250,000 from the city’s general fund to provide small business grants for Atascadero businesses that are significantly impacted by the state’s most recent regional stay-at-home order that went into effect on Dec. 6, 2020. The deadline to submit for the grant was Monday, Jan. 4 at noon. The applications have already all been reviewed and within one week of the submittal deadline, assistance funding checks will be received by many local businesses.
“We are very happy to be able to offer some financial assistance to so many local businesses during this very difficult time,” said Mayor Heather Moreno. “We remain committed to working together with all Atascadero business owners to help ensure they remain a viable and active member of our community. The city is grateful to the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce and their fundraising efforts put towards this assistance fund, which enabled the city to send more checks out today than we originally planned.”
The Atascadero Chamber of Commerce was instrumental in reaching out to the community to request donations to add to the grant. These generous donations provided a unique opportunity to fund more of the businesses that applied.
Restrictions due to COVID have been devastating to not just those businesses receiving these small grants, but also for many of the small businesses here in Atascadero. Now more than ever it’s important to get out and support our small businesses in a COVID safe manner. Whether that be shopping at your favorite retailer or ordering take-out from your favorite restaurant or brewery, now is the time to support local.
If you have questions about your grant application, call (805) 461-5035 or email covidgrant@atascadero.org.
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