27 Jamestown Businesses Receive $528,700 in COVID-19 Funding, More Money on the Way

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown Department of Development has provided over $528,000 in grant money to 27 different businesses in an effort to help them weather the storm caused by COVID-19. And now it appears more grant money will soon arrive to help other businesses in the community as well.

Earlier this year, the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the city nearly $704,881 through a special allocation of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19). The allocation came out of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The Jamestown Department of Development established two programs to distribute the funding: one program focused on offering rental assistance to local residents and the other was a Small Business Assistance Program, offering up to $20,000 in grant money for local businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also in early September, the city was awarded another round of funding of $302,569 through the CARES act, to be administered once again through the CDBG program. The city plans to continue the Small Business Assistance program and has earmarked $157,184 toward that fund. The city will also set up a Response Utility Assistance Program that will involve allocating $100,000 toward that program. That plan was approved by the Jamestown City Council earlier this week. Now the city must wait for HUD to sign off on the plan before the money can be released.

Since the launch of the Small Business Assistance program in late June, a total of 27 grants were awarded to businesses operating in the city of Jamestown.

According to city development director Crystal Surdyk, those businesses that received the maximum amount of $20,000 included: