Arlington Launches New Program To Help Small Businesses

ARLINGTON, MA — The town announced a new program Tuesday that provides assistance to eligible small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is funded by an additional allocation of Community Development Block Grant funds through the CARES Act. Arlington received final approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish the program Dec. 2.

The COVID-19 Business Resiliency Program is a two-track grant program providing working capital grants and technical assistance, both of which aim to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on businesses.

Working capital grants of up to $10,000 will be provided for uses such as offsetting payroll costs, rent and mortgage payments, utilities, and loss of inventory due to mandatory closures and restrictions. The technical assistance track will match businesses with consultants who will deliver one-on-one training or group workshops on topics including accounting and bookkeeping, e-commerce, live commerce, marketing and search engine optimization. Applicants may apply for one or both tracks.

The program is open to businesses with a brick-and-mortar location in Arlington and 20 or fewer employees. Businesses receiving grants must provide documentation that the grant has helped the business create or retain at least one job held by a low- to moderate-income-earning individual.

The Arlington COVID-19 Business Resiliency Program began accepting applications Dec. 15 and will be open through Jan. 15 at 12 p.m. An information session will be recorded and posted on the town's CDBG web page in late December to provide an overview of the application process. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis by the Department of Planning and Community Development and notified of their grant award status starting Jan. 15.

"This program is an important investment in Arlington’s small business community. It will help our local business owners recover from the pandemic by providing essential technical support and by helping retain and create jobs," Jennifer Raitt, director of Planning and Community Development, said. "The Arlington COVID-19 Business Resiliency Program is a result of collaborations between the Department of Planning and Community Development, the federal government via the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Arlington Economic Development Recovery Task Force, and notably, local business owners, who provided the input necessary to shape and build this program. We look forward to future collaborations that will help sustain and grow businesses through and beyond this challenging time."

Additional information about the program is available at www.arlingtonma.gov/covid19assistance. Reasonable accommodations and language assistance requests will be provided. For additional information, please contact the Arlington Department of Planning and Community Development at 781-316-3090 or mjsullivan@town.arlington.ma.us.

This article originally appeared on the Arlington Patch