Cabarrus County offering COVID-19 small business relief

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) — Cabarrus County is now offering a Small Business Support Program to local businesses with less than 50 employees. Businesses can apply for up to $10,000 in grant money. The county is giving out $5 million, meaning they can help 500 businesses.

It’s the first time Cabarrus County has offered small business pandemic relief. In May, they received their first portion of American Rescue Plan State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. Since March of 2020, the county has given out nearly $48 million in grant money to renters and non-profits.

“There’s a lot of opportunity within this to help,” said Cabarrus County Communication Director Kasia Thompson. “There’s no way to know the exact need each business has faced. Their needs vary and are as unique as the businesses themselves, but we hope that this opportunity helps up to 500 local businesses find the support they need at this critical time.”

Shanell Varner owns her own small travel business. She says the pandemic took a big hit on her profits.

“The world literally stopped last year. Borders were closed, individuals weren’t able to travel, and even now that things are slowly but surely picking up, it’s not the same as 2019 and prior,” said Varner.

Varner also serves as the Cabarrus Economic Development Program Manager. Everyday, she says she sees small businesses like her own struggle.

“We get calls literally every day. People are coming in and they’re struggling. They’re struggling to keep their doors open. They’re struggling to pay their people and stay operational,” she said.

Varner says she is excited for small business owners to have the opportunity for some county-provided relief. Though some is better than none, she and the county know five million won’t make up for all the loss COVID has caused.

“I’m just excited that the county has the resources now. It came a couple months later, but as you see, the need is great,” said Varner.

Eligible businesses must:

Have a location within Cabarrus County that opened before January 1, 2020
Operate as a for-profit agency
Have an independent owner/operator
Employ 50 or fewer workers
Demonstrate loss of revenue due to COVID-19
Be in good standing with all federal, state and local governments (taxes, etc.)
Provide 2019 and 2020 Federal Tax Returns with their application
Meet County vendor onboarding requirements

Businesses who have already received relief funding, like PPP, are still eligible to apply for this grant, but preference may be given to those who have not yet received assistance.

Applications must be submitted by October 15th. To apply, click here.