OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Commerce Thursday announced a doubling of funds available to very small businesses impacted by COVID-19 through the Working Washington Small Business emergency grant program.
The program launched April 7 with $5 million from the state’s emergency response fund, and this new $5 million comes from the Governor’s Working Washington reserve fund.
The Working Washington Small Business grants offer up to $10,000 to businesses with up to 10 employees. Grant money can be used to pay for rent, utility bills, supplies, inventory and other operating expenses.
The program was overwhelmed with about 25,000 applications and forced to close last Friday. The state does not plan to reopen the program to new applications, but will be able to fund more requests with these new funds.
Depending on the grant amounts, at least 1,000 businesses should receive funding, and likely more. Based on submissions reviewed so far, Commerce officials say most are under the $10,000 maximum amount.
Other assistance is available to small businesses, including new funding approved this week for the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) forgivable loan program known as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
For more information on PPP, go to sba.gov.