The Pierce County Council at its March 28 meeting unanimously passed an ordinance modifying the Pierce County Small Business Innovation Matching Grant Program in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic having transitioned from pandemic to endemic.
The program will now provide small businesses within the county — unincorporated and incorporated — with a population of less than 8,000 as of April 1, 2022, a maximum of $20,000 and require a match from the business applying. The Economic Development Department will determine program rules beyond said requirements.
The council authorized establishment of the program with an appropriation of $4 million from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund that was part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act that appropriated $150 billion to the fund.
“We are now coming out of the pandemic,” Councilmember Dave Morell said. “The American Rescue [Plan] dollars have helped with that.”
Passed by Congress in 2021 and signed into law by President Joe Biden, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is meant to speed up the country’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the pandemic.
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