Pending City Council approval on March 25, 2020, the City of Hamilton will be funding an emergency grant in the amount of $300,000 to the Hamilton Economic Development Corporation (HEDC), in response to the current economic situation brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. The HEDC is a non-profit economic development corporation that has been serving the City of Hamilton community for over forty (40) years.
The Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce will be accessing those grant funds in order to administer a local stimulus program. This program will support our small local businesses with large advanced purchases of gift cards to be sold to the public. Aimed at small restaurant, retail, and service establishments, small businesses interested in the program can apply using the application linked below.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Brick and Mortar Businesses - Must be open to the public and hold regular business hours (either currently or prior to Covid-19 pandemic). This program is aimed at for-profit service-industry businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that rely financially on walk-in customer activity, such as restaurants, salons/barbershops, retail shops and breweries/bars.
- Funds are to be primarily used for payroll purposes to keep people employed and/or sole proprietors.
- Applicant must be the owner of the brick-and-mortar business.
- Business must be currently active, lawful, and have all necessary and required licenses and registrations.
- Business must be in good standing with the City of Hamilton.
- Business must have less than 50 employees on payroll.
- The business cannot be a direct sales company.
- The business must be located within the city limits of Hamilton, OH.
- Restaurants, retail, and service industries will be given preference. Also, preference will be given to locally-owned businesses.
The application will be open through Tuesday, March 24th at 1pm
. A selection committee will review all applications and may request additional information. The selection committee shall determine, in its sole discretion, whether an application meets the eligibility criteria to participate in the grant program.
These gift cards will then be available for purchase for the general public. Stay tuned for more details about how the public can purchase one of these gift cards.
Questions? Contact
Tiffany Grubb
via email or cell # (513) 479-6736, or
Dan Bates
via email or cell # (267) 249-9649.
