Resource Roundup: August 4th, 2021
Pioneer Square Business Stakeholders-

The Alliance for Pioneer Square team is working diligently to keep the Pioneer Square community informed regarding new resources and opportunities available to them. This roundup is part of a series of weekly messages capturing new resources and opportunities. Find each weekly email to date on our website.

*Please see this roundup's new resources and opportunities highlighted in RED*

What's Happening

  • *NEW* Mayor Durkan has announced that the City of Seattle will transition testing and vaccination efforts to health care partners. As of July 27, 82 percent of eligible Seattle residents have begun the vaccination process, and 76.7 percent of eligible residents have completed the vaccination series. The remaining vaccine will be transferred to city partners at Swedish, and UW Medicine will now operate the Aurora and SODO testing hubs.


  • *NEW* Last week, King County Health Officer, Dr. Duchin issued a Health Directive strongly urging all residents – vaccinated and unvaccinated – to resume wearing masks in indoor public places. This is a crucial step to help curb the spread of the new variants. For critical information regarding the delta variants and how to respond, you may visit the following city resources:



  • *NEW* As COVID cases rise across the region, the list of Seattle dining and drinking destinations requiring vaccination proof for their customers grows by the day. A crowdsourced list called Seattle Safe Night Out has been created to capture restaurant and bar proof of vaccination policies. If you are a restaurant or bar operator, you are invited to submit your proof of vaccination policy to the Seattle Safe Night Out list.
Worker and Business Resources

  • *NEW* The City of Seattle's Office of Economic Development has created a toolkit for businesses who need help with updating or understanding lease language. Additional rental assistance information is also available here.

  • *NEW* More than 10,000 businesses have been awarded funding through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant so far. Operators of live venues, performing arts organizations, museums, movie theaters, and related businesses can still apply here.

  • Free presentations for your community! What do we need to know about COVID-19 to protect our communities? Should we still be thinking about reducing the risk of COVID-19 at work? What about in the neighborhood? King County's COVID-19 Speaker's Bureau provides free presentations on topics you want your organization or community to know. Presentations are available in Arabic, English, Spanish, Amharic, Oromo, Somali and more. Interpreters are also available upon request along with fully accessible webinars, including live captioning, ASL interpreters, materials available in advance, and translation of materials into Braille. Submit a request for a presentation here.

  • The Washington Flex Fund is now open for loans of up to $150,000, providing capital for small businesses and nonprofits to reopen and recover. Loans can be used to pay for payroll, rent, utilities, marketing, repairs or improvements or other costs. To be eligible to apply organizations must have less than $3 million a year in annual revenue and fewer than 50 employees. Washington Flex Fund loans are NOT forgivable, so businesses should ensure that they can afford payments. Visit the Small Business Flex Fund website to apply.

  • Working with community-based organizations, King County will be distributing federal funds for need-based rental assistance to tenants in the county through the Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Program (EPRAP). This grant is intended to prevent evictions by paying past due and future rent. Funds will be distributed equitably and will target limited resources to those with the greatest needs. Apply here.

  • The U.S. Small Business Administration announced extended deferment periods for all disaster loans, including the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, until 2022. This means:
  • All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2020, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 24-months from the date of the note.
  • All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2021, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 18-months from the date of the note.

Find more information on the announcement here.

Reopening Resources

  • The Pioneer Square Business Owners & Managers Facebook group is an opportunity for business owners and retailers to participate in an online forum and share resources, support, and stories. We invite you to join group and connect with other neighborhood businesses. Click here to join the Pioneer Square Business Owners and Managers Facebook page.


Neighborhood Advocacy

  • *NEW* The Alliance for Pioneer Square invites local artists to submit an application to paint a new, permanent mural on the western wall along 4th Ave under the Yesler Bridge. Visit our website to learn more and to apply. 

All application materials must be received by Monday, August 9 at 9:00am. For any questions about this call for artists, please contact Sara Pizzo, Public Realm Manager, at [email protected].


  • Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) is offering a virtual training to staff and member organizations of the Alliance for Pioneer Square. The training will be held on August 31, 2021 from 1:00pm - 4:30pm via Zoom. RSVP here.
Additional Resources


  • Driving to Pioneer Square? Check out mobile-friendly DowntownSeattleParking.com for parking locations throughout the neighborhood. 

Please let us know how we might best support you. Feel free to contact any of us with comments, questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Sincerely,

The Alliance Team

ALLIANCE FOR PIONEER SQUARE