Deadline nearing for grant program

Less than 100 hours are left to apply to Portland’s coronavirus relief program.

Applications for the city’s Small Business Resilience Grant Program are being taken until the clock strikes 5 p.m. Saturday, after which required supplemental materials may be submitted but new applications will not be accepted.

Those documents, which include necessary tax forms and profit margin reports, will be collected and grants may be awarded in November by the Portland Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) Advisory Committee, Portland Mayor John Boggs said.

That committee will not meet this week because a committee member is sick, Boggs said, and any new grants will be awarded next month.

Boggs established the program by executive order in July. The grant aims to help offset costs and loss in revenue experienced by Portland businesses during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Nine businesses in Portland have been awarded a $1,250 grant — the maximum amount allowed under the program — since applications opened in August.

Those businesses are P&B United Enterprise, Flower Nook, Adams Physical Therapy Services Inc., Patriot Fitness, The Loft on Meridian, Progressive Office Products, Renegade Custom Cycles, Greazy Pickle LLC and Stacy Stammen, an independent beautician who works in Upper Kut Salon & Spa.

The committee has pending applications from Triple Taxi Service, Hair Studio and Markie LeMaster of Upper Kut Salon that lacked the needed documentation to award grants.

The number of businesses that have applied for the program are much less than originally projected.

EDIT committee chairman Travis Richards said another Portland business has applied for the grant program since the committee last met Oct. 15, its first meeting in nearly a month.

Boggs said he spoke with a couple of business owners who may be applying for the program this week.

Before or after the deadline, applicants will be required to either submit profit/loss statements for the second financial quarter compared to the second quarter of 2019 or submit invoices or receipts for COVID-19 related costs since March or projected costs in the future.

Businesses are eligible for the grant if they regularly employ 30 full-time employees or fewer, have an annual revenue less than $1.5 million and are up-to-date on property taxes.

The front page of the 2019 fiscal year’s tax returns will also be required in addition to a W-9 form and federal tax ID number. Those documents can either be submitted online or dropped off at city hall to complete the application.

Applications are available online at bit.ly/2EbHMcC.