Escambia County, City of Pensacola Announce Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant Program

Escambia County and the City of Pensacola, in partnership with the UWF Small Business Development Center, FloridaWest EDA and the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce have created the Escambia County Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant Program. The grant is intended to assist for-profit businesses located in Escambia County with their immediate cash flow needs as a result of a demonstrated economic injury due to COVID-19. The max grant award is $2,500 per applicant or business. The opening date to apply is Monday, April 20 at 8 a.m. CST with a deadline of Monday, April 27 at 5 p.m. CST. The application will be available online starting Monday, April 13, but applications will not be accepted until Monday, April 20 at 8 a.m. Please note that complete applications will be reviewed in the order they are received.

Escambia County will fund the grant with a contribution of $100,000 to UWF. The City of Pensacola will contribute an additional $25,000 for businesses within the city, with $12,500 from Mayor Grover Robinson's discretionary fund and $12,500 from District 3 Councilman Andy Terhaar's discretionary fund. The Florida SBDC at UWF will assist eligible for-profit businesses with applying for the grant, and UWF will distribute the appropriate funds to businesses who have been awarded grant funds. A third-party review board will be created to review applications, determine eligibility and approve the award of grant funding to each applicant on a case-by-case basis using the following parameters:

Eligibility

YOUR BUSINESS MUST:

1.  Be a for-profit, privately held small business that maintains a place of business in Escambia County, Florida and established on, or before January 1, 2019. (verified by Sunbiz - dos.myflorida.com/sunbiz/search or hold an occupational or business license). Businesses within city limits applying for City of Pensacola funding must be registered in Sunbiz.

2. Have been a going concern since at least Jan. 1, 2019.

3.  Have been mandated by federal, state, or local government to reduce or eliminate services and/or have a demonstrated reduction in sales revenues of 25% or greater due to the loss of business income related to COVID-19.

4. Provide written justification of economic loss or injury caused as a result of the declared disaster, e.g. sales or income from a previous year compared to current period. Provide documentation of a reduction of sales revenues.

5.  Have been a small business with no more than 20 employees employed at the time of the disaster.

6.  Pledge in good-faith to remain in business for at least 6 months following the receipt of fund.

Steps to apply for the grant:

1. Go to the Florida SBDC at UWF website www.sbdc.uwf.edu and select REQUEST SBDC CONSULTING and complete the online request form. Remember to identify “Escambia COVID-19 Grant” by name in the request form.
2. Download the Escambia County Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant application at myescambia.com/COVID19Grant, complete and sign the application, and gather all supporting documents. Email completed and signed applications, as well as supporting documents, all in PDF format to fsbdcatuwf@gmail.com. Please put "Escambia COVID-19 Grant" in the subject line of the email.  For assistance with completing the application, contact the Florida SBDC at UWF at 850-586-7802 or fsbdcatuwf@gmail.com. If you need assistance scanning documentation into a PDF, please contact Escambia County’s Neighborhood and Human Services Division Manager Carla Thompson at 850-595-3123 or cell at 850-572-1938 to schedule an appointment at Brownsville Community Center, 3200 W. DeSoto, Pensacola. Only completed application forms with all requested supporting documents will be accepted for review.

1. The application form must be completed and signed by individual(s) who, individually or collectively, own fifty-one percent (51%) or more of the equity of the business.
2. A copy of each individual’s driver’s license or US Passport must be provided for identity verification purposes.

Each applicant OR business is only eligible for one grant. If the applicant OR business has received the Northwest Florida Small Business COVID-19 Grant they will not be eligible for the Escambia County Small Business Recovery COVID-19 Grant. Fifty percent of grant funds will be awarded to businesses with up to 10 employees, and 50 percent will be awarded to business with 11 to 20 employees. The Escambia grant will be awarded with consideration given to business locations throughout the entire county to ensure that all districts of the county are represented. The City of Pensacola’s contribution will be awarded to businesses within the city.

By partnering with UWF SBDC the applicant information remains confidential per state statute.