Santa Rosa County Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant Opens for Second Cycle

Santa Rosa County, in partnership with the Florida SBDC at UWF, created the Santa Rosa County Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant Program and opened the first cycle on April 6 for one week. A second application cycle will open now and will remain open until the funds are depleted.

“We are very thankful to be able to open this grant cycle once more to help those who were not able to apply when the grant originally opened.  There are many small businesses still in need and this grant can help not only now when sales are down, but also by providing a cushion to ease some of the challenges of re-opening,” said Shannon Ogletree, executive director, Santa Rosa Economic Development.

Santa Rosa County has funded the grant with a contribution of $100,000 with an additional $60,000 contribution from the City of Milton and $60,000 from the City of Gulf Breeze. All three grants will be open until funds have been depleted from each contributor. The Florida SBDC at UWF will continue to assist eligible for-profit businesses with applying for the grant and will distribute the appropriate funds to businesses that have been awarded. A third-party review board has been created to review applications and will continue to determine eligibility and approve the award of grant funding to each applicant on a case-by-case basis using the parameters listed below. The COVID-19 grant is intended to assist for-profit businesses located in Santa Rosa County and address their immediate cash flow needs as a result of demonstrated economic injury due to COVID-19.

Applications are available for download at www.santarosaready.com and submissions are being accepted now.

Read the application steps carefully. Note that complete applications will be reviewed in the order they are received. Each applicant or business is only eligible for one grant. If the applicant or business has received the Northwest Florida Small Business COVID-19 Grant, City of Milton Small Business Grant or the City of Gulf Breeze Small Business Grant, they will not be eligible for the Santa Rosa County Small Business Recovery COVID-19 Grant.

• Opening date: Open Now
• Application deadline: Until funds depleted
• Grant amount (maximum): $2,500 per applicant or business

Your business must:

1. Be a for-profit, privately held small businesses that maintains a place of business in Santa Rosa County and established on, or before January 1, 2019.
2. Have a storefront within Santa Rosa County, Florida.
3. Have been profitable prior to the COVID-19 disaster as indicated on financial documents.
4. Have a demonstrated reduction in sales revenues of 25% or greater due to the loss of business income related to COVID-19. Must provide written justification of economic loss or injury caused as a result of the declared disaster, e.g. sales or income from a previous year compared to current period. Provide documentation of a reduction of sales revenues.
5. Be a small business with no more than 20 employees.

Steps to apply for the grant:

1. Visit the Florida SBDC at UWF website, www.sbdc.uwf.edu, and select "Request SBDC Consulting" and complete the online request form. Be sure to identify “SRC COVID-19 Grant” by name in the request form.
2. Download the Santa Rosa County Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant application at www.santarosaready.com, complete and sign the application and gather all supporting documents. Email the completed and signed applications, as well as supporting documents, in PDF format to [email protected].

For assistance with completing the application, contact the Florida SBDC at UWF at 850-586-7802 or [email protected].

The Santa Rosa Economic Development Office is a department of Santa Rosa County tasked with improving the area's economy through the attraction and retention of new employment opportunities and capital investments. To learn more about how this office can help a business grow in Santa Rosa County, visit www.santarosaedo.com. Let us work for you!