Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 07/16/2020

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Economic Development Authority (EDA) Meeting Date: 07/16/2020 Submitted For: Sean Sullivan, Community Development By: Sean Sullivan, Community Development 4. 1. Title: Consider Guidelines for Business Grant Program - Phase 2 COVID-19 Business Assistance Program Using CARES Act Funding Allocation Purpose/Background: Purpose: To discuss potential guidelines for a grant/loan program funded through the the City CARES Act allocation and to make a recommendation to the City Council. Background: The City of Ramsey has been providing assistance to its businesses throughout this COVID- 19 pandemic. City staff has be communicating state, federal and other grant/loan opportunities to our businesses and assisting them with the application process when possible. Federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) have been utilized by many businesses but funds have dried up in certain areas. In an effort to get more relief for businesses and government, the federal government passed the CARES Act which allocated money directly to the State of Minnesota to assist with unexpected relating to COVID-19. A portion of this funds are being administered by the State of Minnesota and the state rolled out a $10,000 Small Business Relief Grant program with an application deadline of July 2, 2020. The total amount allocated in this program was $60M. Criteria for that program is attached to this case as reference only (we do not need to use all of the same criteria). Anoka County also received an allocation of CARES Act Funds and are also creating a grant program similar to other city and county partners. Anoka County is still putting together its application and criteria for the program. It should be noted that businesses can only receive one allocation from CARES Act grant dollars. For example, if a business receives a State grant you are not eligible to receive a City or County grant. Based on information received from existing and contemplated grant programs from other cities, states and counties the criteria varies greatly. The purpose of this case to to evaluate options and criteria that would best serve our Ramsey businesses. Notification: N/A Observations/Alternatives: Staff has reviewed several peer community templates in preparation for this discussion. Most of the existing loan and grant programs staff reviewed were developed prior to allocation of CARES Act funding to Cities and Counties and were seeded from City Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) and other funding sources. Based on this, new programs would need to call out the prohibition to receiving multiple CARES Act grant awards and to factor that into the application process. In order to have a successful grant/loan program the city will need to put in place something that has meaningful impact to businesses, is easy to apply for and has criteria that allows for quick processing of the application and administration of the grants. To be eligible to receive Small Business Emergency Assistance funds, a business must demonstrate that its operations have been directly and adversely affected by the COVID-19 Health Pandemic and/or that it operates in a category named in Executive Orders 20-04 and 20-08. Below are some criteria/processes the EDA should consider for recommendation to the City Council that businesses will want to use and that is simple