The City of Arvada has announced additional support for the local business community and continued recovery from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The City was able to support 286 businesses with grant funds that were fully converted from loans made earlier this year as part of the $2.5 million Emergency Small Business Loan Fund. The City provided an additional $282,200 in order to support every qualified business that initially applied for assistance, bringing the total amount of support to more than $2.8 million.
The grants are made possible through funding included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to Jefferson and Adams counties. The counties have subsequently provided a portion of their CARES Act funding allocations to local municipalities, including Arvada. The conversion of loans to grants is consistent with the City’s approach in focusing CARES Act funds on the recovery of the local business and nonprofits community as well as unanticipated City expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19.
Arvada Businesses are expected to use the grant funds based on requirements under the CARES Act. In addition, participants must complete and return a CARES Act funding recipient release form. Eligible Arvada businesses that applied for Emergency Small Business Loan Funds before the loan application deadline were also issued grants through CARES Act funds.
The City recognizes that some local businesses did not apply when the program was loan-based and are currently ineligible for a grant. The City has listed additional resources to support the Arvada business community as part of the City’s Arvada Business Recovery Initiative. More information about the resources and the initiative is available at https://arvada.org/business-recovery.