The state of Washington has doubled its COVID-19 recovery grant fund for small business to $10 million but has received a rush of some 26,000 applications for the money.
The fund is designed to give businesses with up to 10 employees grants up to $10,000.
“In many ways, they are the foundation of local economies and communities,” said Lisa Brown, director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. “And small businesses in some cases have a very hard time accessing federal business assistance programs.”
Though the additional funds will not open applications for money, Brown said it would allow state officials to respond to more of the flood of applications they already have received.
Regardless how the state economy reopens, Brown said she expects it to take years, not months to recover. The state lost 150,00 jobs in the Great Recession of 2008, but the state has received more than 500,000 jobless claims as of last week, she said.
