Luzerne County advancing $5M small business sustainability grant program

A financial assistance program that will provide earmarks to Luzerne County small businesses is moving closer to implementation, officials said.

County council had unanimously voted in March to set aside $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to set up a small business sustainability grant program administered by the Greater Pittston, Greater Hazleton and Wyoming Valley chambers of commerce.

On Tuesday, council is set to approve a formal resolution cementing that commitment so the program can proceed. This resolution authorizes the county administration to work with the Greater Pittston Chamber, which submitted the program application on behalf of the group, to facilitate the program.

“I can say there is a ton of interest in this program, said Pittston Chamber President Michelle Mikitish. “We’re excited that it’s coming to official resolution.”

While some program parameters will depend on federal American Rescue regulations, a basic framework has been conveyed to county council.

It will apply to county small businesses with fewer than 50 employees that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two tiers of recovery support will be provided — $5,000 for businesses with up to 19 employees and $10,000 for those with 20 to 49 employees.

To be eligible, businesses also must be physically located in the county, currently be open and operational, certify how the pandemic negatively impacted their business, and expend awarded funds within the county, when possible.

Although the required documentation may be expanded, businesses must provide the following:

• Organization documentation for the business

• Two years of tax returns

• A signed certification statement

• A signed program agreement

• A brief narrative explaining how the funding will be used

• W-3 information for businesses claiming 20 or more employees

The three chambers told council they have a “unique ability” to connect to all county small businesses because they work well with each other and have established relationships with many other economic development, small business development and “Main Street” organizations.

This outreach will maximize the impact of the American Rescue funding and sustain a “strong and healthy small business ecosystem,” they said.

They described the county’s thousands of small businesses as the “biggest advocates” and “backbone” of communities. Approximately 25% of county residents are employed by small businesses, and these merchants support many local organizations, they said.

“We look forward to working with the county on this project and to serving all the small businesses that work diligently to survive in this challenging post-pandemic economy,” their summary to council said.

Once an official American Rescue agreement is in place with the county, Mikitish estimates it will take at least two months to formalize the application for businesses and set up a portal to submit and process applications.

Disclosing the preliminary list of required documents will help interested businesses prepare, particularly if they will have to consult with accountants, she said.

Mikitish emphasized the chambers will be holding outreach sessions with interested businesses to help walk them through the application process.

“Through COVID, it was disheartening to learn how many businesses did not know how to access information to apply for assistance,” she said. “We want to make the process as simple as possible for small businesses and give them as much notice as possible ahead of time.”

Businesses also can sign up now to receive alerts about upcoming application announcements so they don’t have to worry about missing notices and deadlines, Mikitish said.

The chamber websites:

https://www.hazletonchamber.org/

http://www.pittstonchamber.org/

https://www.wyomingvalleychamber.org/

Mikitish said nearly 160 businesses have signed up for the alerts so far.

Information also is posted in Spanish.

Details are still being worked out for a separate county public relief program. Council had unanimously agreed to allocate at least $5 million in American Rescue fund for that purpose, but it has not yet approved a resolution specifying the plan.

County council’s Tuesday meeting is at 6 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.