Palm Beach County CARES for Business – Restart Business Grants Available

Application Online Launch – Friday May 22nd at 8AM

The Board of County Commissioners of Palm Beach County has authored the initiation of the CARES Restart Business Grants Program. The program will accept applications, online, starting at 8AM on Friday, May 15th. The CARES Restart Business Grants Program is designed to accelerate the reopening of businesses hardest hit by new coronavirus pandemic.

$60 million has been allocated to the Business Restart Program from the county’s $261 million allocation from the CARES Act.

The BCC dedicated $50 million toward businesses with 25 or fewer employees and an additional $10 million for businesses with over 25 employees.

The specific program guidelines (including eligibility criteria) are detailed, below and are posted on the county’s web site.

Grants for each qualified business will be for up to $25,000 and are designed to assist Palm Beach County businesses impacted by the state mandated restrictions on operations as they “restart” their phased reopening process.

RESTART BUSINESS GRANTS (for business with 25 employees or fewer)

Allocation: $50 million

Assistance Offered: $25,000 maximum award (Grants & Forgivable Loans received by businesses related to COVID-19 will be reduced from eligible maximum award)

PLEASE NOTE: There will be a dollar to dollar reduction in the amount a business can be awarded based on funds already granted under the Paycheck Protection Program. In other words, if $25,000 or more has already been received under the Paycheck Protection Program, the business will be ineligible for a Restart Business Grant.

Eligibility

Business has 25 employees or fewer
Business has been operating since October 1, 2019 and was still operating on February 29, 2020
Business is located in Palm Beach County
Business is not a publicly traded company
Business is not a non-profit organization
Business does not exceed $3 million in total gross receipts or sales
- Businesses with 25 or less employees and total gross receipts or sales of $3-5M will be funded from the $10M allocation

Examples of Eligible Businesses

Agriculture
Child Care Centers, Adult Day Care Centers
Gyms & Fitness Studios
Hair Salons, Nail Salons, Barber Shops
Health Care Services & Medical Offices
Professional Services
Based on NAICS Codes
Restaurants, Caterers, Bakeries
Retail – Physical Brick/Mortar Store

Eligible Uses

Salaries/Payroll
Inventories
Commercial Lease, Mortgage, or Rent Payments
Utilities
Other Expenses – due to new safety provisions

Required Documents

Fully executed application, including certifications, affirmations, and acknowledgements
Financial information such as tax returns and payroll report
Active Palm Beach County Business Tax Receipt
Active copy of your Registered Business as shown on SunBiz.Org

Justification

To support businesses most affected by COVID 19

Other

Minimum number of business helped under this program is 2000, if maximum award is granted
Completed applications will be processed in the order that they were received
PBC will be partnering with S/M/WBE vendors to process business grant applications

Statistics: FL Department of Economic Opportunity 2018 employment data

58% of businesses in Palm Beach County have 5 or less employees
20% of businesses in Palm Beach County have 6-25 employees
22% of businesses in Palm Beach County have over 25 employees

RESTART BUSINESS GRANTS (for businesses with over 25 employees)

Allocation: $10 million