Horry County got almost $4 million in grant money for small businesses. Here’s who got it

Margaret Harriott misses her customers.

She hasn’t served them a plate of shrimp n’ grits since her restaurant, Miss Maraget’s Soul Food, closed in March. The Conway restaurant closed in March but now plans to reopen thanks to a grant from the state.

“[The pandemic] is the worst thing I’ve ever had to experience in my professional career as a business owner,” Harriott told The Sun News. The $25,000 grant is going to help her reopen.

Harriott’s restaurant was one of nearly 2,300 small businesses to receive COVID-19 assistance grants through the state. Last month the state’s Department of Administration finalized the $40 million in federally funded grants, which gave preference to minority-owned businesses.

Horry County received $3.8 million, the third highest amount in the state, but ranked next to last in money given to minority businesses. County-wide 209 businesses received funding from the state ranging from $2,500 to $25,000.

Harriott, a Black woman, said the $25,000 will help her pay for her restaurant’s new location. In 2019, her restaurant grossed around $300,000, in 2020 that number was closer to $15,000. In the 11 months since closing, she has been making money by catering for businesses and events.

She is looking forward to reopening and serving customers again, especially her regulars. They would throw a monthly seafood party with crab legs, shrimp and oysters.

“We had a nice crowd and we always had a good time,” she said.

Second lowest in the state

Harriott is one of only 41 minority-owned businesses to get the grant in Horry County. Just under 20% of grant recipients were listed as minority-owned. There are about 600 minority-owned businesses in Horry County, according to census data, compared to about 6,000 non-minority owned businesses.

When the state Legislature created the program last fall, it gave preference to minority-owned businesses, small businesses and businesses that had not received previous COVID-19 assistance. Minority-owned businesses were less likely to have received previous COVID assistance, such as federal aid from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was aimed at keeping companies open and running.

Harriott, a disabled army veteran, said she received some federal assistance before the grant.

Statewide, a little more than a third of the applicants were minority-owned businesses, and they received nearly half the funding. In Horry County only 41 out of 209 businesses to receive the grant were minority-owned.

Horry County received the third largest amount of money out of all South Carolina counties, raking in just under $3.8 million for the 209 businesses. Still, the need for government assistance exceeds what the grants could give. According to data from the program, 780 Horry County businesses applied for just under $18 million in grants, leaving over 500 businesses without PPP assistance.

Where the money went in Horry

‘Much larger pot of money’

Gov. Henry McMaster wants to continue the COVID-19 relief grants for small businesses in next year’s state spending plan and has proposed setting aside $123 million in one-time state dollars for relief grants to be awarded by the Department of Commerce.

Preference also would go to businesses that have not received previous COVID-19 assistance, but excluded from the governor’s proposal is any preference for minority-owned businesses.

“We believe the second round of funding needs to be distributed to each and every small business in South Carolina that demonstrates the need for it,” McMaster spokesperson Brian Symmes said. “The governor has proposed a much larger pot of money than the original one as well.”

Harriott has her sights set on a new location and is planning to open again in April.

“I just have to put my equipment that I’m going to be using, and dining room equipment,” she said. “It’s basically ready.”