Small Businesses Get A Hand From New $5.5 Million Grant Matching Program

In what hopes to be another positive step for recovery, Mayor Bloomberg announced a new $5.5 million grant matching program aimed at getting small businesses bowled over by Hurricane Sandy back on their feet.

The grant program, funded by $500,000 from the Partnership for New York City and $5 million from the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, will be run by the New York Business Development Cooperation. According to the Mayor’s press release,

The matching grants are designed to provide additional financial assistance for local businesses already seeking low-interest loans through the City’s existing Emergency Loan Fund…The new matching grants of up to $10,000 will be administered by the New York Business Development Corporation and will be available to New York City businesses in all five boroughs that have been displaced from their workplace for three weeks and are already seeking emergency loans from the City’s existing program. They are designed to provide critical supplemental assistance to what is being provided through the low-interest loans, and will be capped at no more than the amount the business receives in the loans.

The Mayor expressed his aims with the new program stating, “The capital provided through this program will help businesses purchase supplies, make repairs, and get back up and running.” In a letter to his constituents, local Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz joined the Mayor in expressing the importance of this program, citing the weakened shape much of Sheepshead Bay business community is still in,

“While some stores are back in business, there are many that remain shuttered, a sad testament to the unpredictable force of nature. For these businesses, today was another day of cleaning and rebuilding, getting rid of what’s unsalvageable and hoping for better days ahead.

If you are a small business owner looking more information on qualifying for loans or accessing donations click here.