Grants to Mitigate Financial Hardships
With receipt of these grants, Chatham County small businesses severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly more able to: RETAIN EMPLOYEES by meeting payroll, COVER OPERATIONAL EXPENSES normally funded by commercial traffic through their doors, and thereby STAY AFLOAT as viable businesses. By supporting local small businesses during times of unprecedented curtailment of normal industry, Chatham County helped preserve businesses as contributing elements of the local economy and preserve paid employment for local workers.
- 92 Chatham County Small Businesses qualified and received financial aid
- $19,500 average assistance amount
- $1,800,000 in total awarded to Chatham County Small Businesses
“It even helped with the anxiety, because after working for so long, then suddenly not being able to – it plays on your mind! One of the critical things this allowed us to do was buy as many gloves as we needed. We use a lot! But with COVID, our necessity became everyone else’s necessity, too, and at triple the price. And we needed masks, and boxes that we could seal up with meals inside them. If you’re a true business owner, then you already have all your paperwork together, so the process wasn’t hard, and it made all the difference. So what happened? We pivoted. We went back to our beginning. We put out flyers and made to-go plates and everyone ordered on line and picked up their orders. They just came to us, and we were able to hold on. It was good to be able to still come in and work.”
No one was calling. I’m a corporate caterer and everyone was just out. This grant sustained us.
- Shannon McAdams, owner, The Southern Palate
For more information on this project, contact: DSchukart@chathamcounty.org
