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City to add $24 million to Small Business Relief and Recovery Fund

HONOLULU -- The City and County of Honolulu will add another $24 million from the CARES Act to the Small Business Relief and Recovery Fund (SBRRF), bringing the total funds provided for this program to $175 million.

"It's clear the need for assistance during this pandemic isn't going away," said Mayor Kirk Caldwell. "Adding more money to the Small Business Relief and Recovery Fund will help us continue to create a more COVID-safe economy and get struggling people and businesses back on their feet."

The additional $24 million will have three focuses:

  • Provide a special one-time reimbursable grant up to $20,000 to businesses that continue to be closed or must operate at greatly reduced capacity through Honolulu's COVID-19 Recovery Framework. These include bars and nightclubs, gyms and fitness facilities, arcades, and commercial recreational boating.
  • Reopen the small business fund for new applications from qualified businesses that have not yet received a grant.
  • Provide funds to for qualified applications already in the credit unions' queue.

Applications for listed closed businesses and new applicants will open at noon on December 1 for one week, with the possibility of being extended for one more week based on response.

Since the launch of the SBRRF in May, it has distributed $151 million to over 6,800 small businesses. After the first tranche of $25 million was exhausted, another $25 million was added in mid-June. At that time, the program was expanded to add farmers and the threshold for qualifying businesses was increased to up to $2 million in gross annual income and 50 or fewer employees to make SBRRF available to more local businesses.

The city partnered with four local credit unions to review applications and distribute up to $10,000 in reimbursable grants to qualifying businesses.

Throughout the program's life, the applicant pool and prevailing economic conditions have been monitored and changes made accordingly. In early August, a decision was made to allow previous applicants to apply again if they had not qualified for or received the full $10,000 grant. At the same time, 871 small business commercial fishermen were added to the eligible applicant pool. An additional $10 million was added to the program to support these two additions. Then in September, another $75 million was added to help businesses persevere through the COVID-19 crisis by allowing second-chance applications from previous applicants and additional businesses to qualify for grants ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 based on a business' annual gross revenue.

For more information on qualifications and application requirements, visit oneoahu.org.

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