Scott County COVID-19 Business Recovery Program

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Scott County Board of Commissioners has allocated $5.5 million to support local small businesses that have had financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically targeting local businesses who have not received assistance from other pandemic related programs and businesses who have impacts that have exceeded other assistance received.

The local business assistance is being offered through the following target areas:

1. Licensed in-home childcare providers:  Target Funding:  $1,000,000
2. Small for-profit businesses:  Target Funding:  $3,500,000
3. For-profit farming operations:  Target Funding:  $700,000

Scott County, in collaboration with the Scott County Community Development Agency (CDA), is working with NextStage (Program Administrator), a local non-profit business, to collect and review the applications, and award program grants. This initiative is being funded by Scott County’s allocation from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Benefits available to Scott County in-home childcare providers under the program include:

• Licensed family childcare providers in Scott County will be eligible to receive up to $4,500 for eligible expenses and cost of business interruption incurred from March 1, 2020 through June 15, 2020.

Benefits available to Scott County small businesses and for-profit farming operations under the program include:

• Up to $7,500 for self-employed entrepreneurs that have no employees and have a physical location for their business in Scott County other than their personal residence.
• Up to $15,000 grant for small businesses based on economic injury from COVID19 and eligible expenses.
• Up to $25,000 grant for local for-profit farming operations based on economic injury from COVID-19 and eligible expenses.

Full guidelines and eligibility requirements for the program are included below.

• Eligible licensed in-home family childcare providers in Scott County will receive an email with a link to the application on August 19. The application link you receive will be set to expire once it has been used, so please complete the application in one session and do not share your link. You will need to have your license number and program name (legal name) handy. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact NextStage staff at ScottCo@nextstagemn.org. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. on August 27.

• Small businesses & for-profit farming operations – Initial applications round closed on August 27, and the waitlist is now closed as well.

ABOUT USE OF FUNDS

Scott County COVID-19 Business Recovery Program may NOT be used for the same expenses that were paid with funds from other COVID-19 related business assistance grant programs, including (but not limited to) the following:

• SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
• Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
• State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) – Small Business Emergency Loan Fund (SBEL) or Minnesota Small Business Relief Grants
• State of Minnesota Peacetime Emergency Childcare Grants
• Local Scott County CDA, city, or township grants

For all the target area programs, funds can only be used for Federal CARES Act eligible COVID-19 related or incurred public health emergency business operating expenses, including expenses related to reopening as approved by NextStage, Scott County, and the Scott County CDA.

If you have questions related to the program itself, please contact Stacy Crakes, Scott County CDA Business Development Director, at scrakes@scottfss.org.