The City of Claremont and the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) are providing eligible small businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic up to $10,000 as part of their small business grant (SBG) program. The SBG program will accept applications between February 28 and March 4, 2022 at https://www.lacda.org/sbg-round-3.

“Eligible businesses [can] submit an intake form during the five-day open application period. After the intake period closes, a lottery will be conducted and selected businesses will be requested to complete an application,” the city wrote online. The LACDA “will work with the selected businesses on behalf of the City of Claremont to complete an application, execute an agreement, and provide the grant funds directly to the business owners.”

Eligible small businesses located in Claremont may complete the application if they meet the following required criteria. The business must have fewer than 500 employees who have been impacted by COVID-19; the business must be a restaurant, coffee shop, bakery, café, gastropub, salon, barbershop or other grooming business, gym, day spa, fitness studio, retail or commercial store such as a local market, consumer goods, electronics, appliances, health and sporting goods, furniture, clothing and shoes, books, and/or music store; the busines license must be active in the city or county, as applicable, and the must have no unresolved city, municipal or health code violations.

For a list of ineligible businesses, visit www.ci.claremont.ca.us/home/showpublisheddocument/17591/637781804664030000.

The use of grant funds is limited. Businesses may only use the funds to cover operational business expenses including employee payroll, working capital to continue operations, payment of outstanding business expenses and adaptive practices needed to remain open (i.e., equipment and supplies for physical distancing).

For more information, call Alexander Cousins in the community development department at (909) 399-5323. You may also visit https://www.ci.claremont.ca.us/doing-business/business-assistance-programs.

Dates to remember
After the grant application intake closes, a lottery will be conducted on March 9 to select the number of eligible businesses that the SBG program can support. Following the lottery, between March 10 and 18, selected businesses will be sent a full grant application to complete to qualify to receive funds.

April 8 is the deadline for selected businesses to submit completed grant applications. Between March and April, businesses that have been approved will receive their funds.