The Washington State Department of Commerce is offering a third round of grants for small businesses. The first application deadline is December 11th.
Governor Inslee announced an additional $70 million for business grants. $50 million of this is for Round 3 of the Working Washington Small Business grants. The remainder will go towards funding qualified businesses that applied in earlier rounds of our resiliency grant program.
NOTE: Businesses that applied for the resiliency grant program will not need to take any action.
Who Can Apply For The Grants?
According to the Washington State Department of Commerce, these grants are prioritized for:
- Small businesses with annual revenues of $5 million or less in 2019
AND
Businesses in the sectors that are most impacted by the recent public health measures or sectors that have experienced significant, cumulative impacts. Examples include full-service restaurants, fitness centers, bowling alleys and music and event venues. - Certain nonprofits may also be eligible if they have a primary business activity that falls into a similar category as noted above. Example – a nonprofit full-service restaurant or nonprofit music venue.
- If Commerce is able to fund all the eligible applicants from the priority pool, and funds remain, we may be able to provide grants to additional businesses or nonprofits from other sectors or who have annual revenues larger than $5 million.
The application describes additional criteria.
What Does The Grant Pay For?
- The maximum award grant will be up to $20,000.
- The grant can only cover expenses or costs incurred due to COVID-19 and that were necessary to continue business operations. The application has more detail about what kinds of expenses can be covered by this grant.
How to apply
The application is available at: workingwa3.fluxx.io
- The online application portal is open now.
- Priority will be given to applications received by December 11th, 2020. If Commerce is able to fund all the applicants who submit by that time, we may be able to consider applicants who submit after the 11th.
If you have questions or need assistance,
Email: [email protected]
Call: (360) 725-5003.
For Non-English Speakers: (startup.choosewashingtonstate.com/small-business-resiliency-assistance)
Here is a checklist of the information you’ll need to have ready:
- Copy of valid government-issued photo I.D.
- For tribal-member owned businesses: license or certification if business activity is conducted outside the tribal jurisdiction; letter or certification from the tribe recognizing you as a business if business activity is within the tribal jurisdiction.
- NAICS code or clear description of your primary business activity. A NAICS code is helpful, but not necessary. If you have never used a NAICS code, you can learn more here: naics.com/what-is-a-naics-code-why-do-i-need-one and here naics.com/search
Application site traffic may be high so page load times may be impacted. Applicants are encouraged to be patient or try accessing the site during non-peak hours such as early morning, late evening or the weekend.
