Pittston Chamber President Michelle Mikitish thanks county council Tuesday for approving a final resolution providing $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding for a small business assistance program.
Jennifer Learn-Andes | Times Leader
A new program that will provide $5 million in earmarks to Luzerne County small businesses with fewer than 50 employees received the go-ahead Tuesday from county council.
Council also provided an update on another upcoming $5 million public relief program, also funded by a portion of the county’s federal American Rescue Plan receipts.
Small businesses
Tuesday’s adoption of a formal resolution was necessary to proceed with the small business sustainability grant program that will be jointly administered by the Greater Pittston, Greater Hazleton and Wyoming Valley chambers of commerce.
Under the proposed program plans, 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. Extensive documentation will be required.
Although the application process is still under development, businesses can sign up now to receive application and deadline alerts and announcements at one of the three chamber websites: https://www.hazletonchamber.org/, http://www.pittstonchamber.org/ and https://www.wyomingvalleychamber.org/.
Speaking on behalf of the chamber group Tuesday, Pittston Chamber President Michelle Mikitish thanked council for approving the resolution.
“We really appreciate you pushing this resolution through this evening so that we can really get forward and get into the nuts and bolts of putting the program together,” Mikitish told council members. “We are ready. We have been putting the groundwork together, so now we just need to get some of the pieces of the puzzle together, and hopefully within 60 to 90 days, we’ll be able to be really helping those small businesses.”
Public assistance
Swoyersville resident Greg Griffin asked council for a status on the public relief program, saying citizens also need help.
Council Chairwoman Kendra Vough said county Manager Romilda Crocamo took the initiative to reach out to the Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO) and developed one option to use the funds to provide heating and utility assistance to eligible county residents through an established agency program.
Vough said there also was discussion about whether council wanted to apply the funding to an existing program or provide direct payments to residents that meet yet-to-be-defined eligibility requirements.
The administration is gathering information on “what it would take” to get the money directly to qualifying residents, Vough said.
When the details of both options are complete, council will discuss them and vote, Vough said.
Crocamo said she spoke with county management Tuesday about rounding up information on organizations equipped to handle the processing if council decides to give residents a monetary sum.
“There will be a lot of technical issues that have to be discussed,” Crocamo said, adding she will attempt to present details to council for its consideration next month.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
