EASTON, Pa. — The Business Retention Assistance of the City of Easton program is taking applications from local businesses for grants as the first part of a broader plan to help alleviate issues from the COVID-19 pandemic.
For-profit businesses principally in Easton with 25 or fewer employees can apply for a grant because of hardships from supply-chain disruptions, staffing scarcity and other problems stemming from prolonged construction activity in the downtown area, a BRACE program release said.
- The Business Retention Assistance of the City of Easton, or BRACE, Program is offering grants of up to $5,000 to small local businesses
- The BRACE Program is part of a multi-pronged approach to help businesses with short and long-term sustainability issues experienced during and after the pandemic
- Applications for the program can be filed online, and must be submitted by July 14
The grants can be used to cover overhead and staff-related expenses, or to buy inventory and equipment.
“The program, by design, is really intended to meet more or less the needs of the businesses, particularly in the downtown area which have been affected directly by the pandemic, and then by pandemic hangover in the city,” Easton Department of Community and Economic Development Director John Kingsley said.
All city businesses welcome to apply
Kingsley said businesses throughout all the city’s neighborhood are welcome to apply.
Businesses with no unrelated employees are limited to $2,000; those with one to five employees can get up to $3,000' with six to 10 employees $4,000, and those with 11-25 up to $5,000.
Once the grant is submitted, a committee of personnel from Easton’s DCED and the Greater Easton Development Partnership will review it and notify the applicant on the decision within 30 days.
According to the BRACE Program guidelines, priority will be given to businesses which have not received other forms of COVID-19 relief funding.
Applications for the program must be submitted by July 14.
“Our objective here is really not just to use this ARPA funding to kind of create short term solutions, but really create a system in which moving forward, we have long term retention strategies for businesses to make sure that not only in terms of the pandemic, but moving forward, they can find stability here in the city."Easton Director of Community and Economic Development Administrator Sean Ziller
The BRACE Program serves as one of the city’s efforts to help keep local operations running even after suffering the effects of the pandemic, which led to financial issues, layoffs, closures and other problems for numerous small businesses.
In May, officials from the DCED and GEDP presented members of Easton’s city council with a breakdown of American Rescue Plan funding reallocations which would allow additional investments in the area’s small businesses via grants, loans and other programs.
One piece in a larger program
DCED Administrator Sean Ziller noted the BRACE Program is but one piece of a larger overall initiative to help local businesses.
“Our objective here is really not just to use this ARPA funding to kind of create short term solutions, but really create a system in which moving forward, we have long term retention strategies for businesses to make sure that not only in terms of the pandemic, but moving forward, they can find stability here in the city,” Ziller said.
Kingsley said the loan part of the initiative is tentatively scheduled for next week, and a technical assistance program — which includes assisting businesses with marketing — may launch as soon as a week after that.
Following a soft launch last week, the BRACE Program already has seen eight applications submitted, and Kingsley and Ziller expect more soon.
Kingsley said the series of programs all can be utilized as per the needs of Easton’s small businesses, providing a diverse range of assistance that can address both immediate and long-term issues.
"So it essentially stacks — you could apply for each of those based upon your needs, or one."Easton Department of Community and Economic Development Director John Kingsley
Based on economic indicators pointing toward continued problems with inflation and other market issues, the initiatives could prove vital to the survival of small businesses in Easton.
“What applicants should know is that if you do apply for the, let's say, the grant program, that does not preclude them from the loan or the technical assistance.
"So it essentially stacks — you could apply for each of those based upon your needs, or one,” Kingsley said.
Those interested in applying for the BRACE Program can do so the Easton City website.
