Cobb Commissioners OK small business grants, rental relief

After some discussion Tuesday morning, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved using more than $50 million of federal COVID-19 stimulus funds to help small businesses and low-income renters facing evictions.

The proposals by Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb were later approved at the board’s regular business meeting Tuesday afternoon.

In the case of the small business grants, a total of $50 million will be earmarked to help businesses retain employees and meet other expenses to stay open.

The proposal would limit eligible business to those with 100 employees or less and stipulated that they must own or lease commercial property for their operations in Cobb County.

But commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb got her colleagues to agree to expand the criteria to those who have home-based businesses.

She also wanted to cap the number of eligible business with up to 20 employees.

Select Cobb, the development arm of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, will oversee the selection of the businesses to get the grants. Starting next Monday, more information will be available on its website about the application and eligibility process.

Select Cobb and commissioners will appoint an independent committee representing a variety of industries and business sectors to choose the grant recipients.

An equitable number of businesses will be chosen from the four commission districts, and they will be eligible for funding as follows:

1 to 10 employees – up to $20,000;
11 to 50 employees – up to $30,000;
51 to 100 employees – up to $40,000.

Select Cobb will receive $500,000 in stimulus funding to oversee the selection and distribution process.

Also Tuesday, commissioners approved spending $1.5 million of the federal stimulus funds to help tenants work out agreements with landlords for back rent in order to avoid eviction.

Star-C, an Atlanta non-profit with offices in Cobb County, will administer that funding. Under the plan, low-income apartment dwellers facing evictions would receive a “scholarship” of up to 70 percent of their overdue payment total. The remaining 20 percent would be paid by the tenant and the landlord would be asked to pay the remaining 10 percent and waive the late fee.

Cobb County has received $132 million in funding from the federal CARES Act, and earlier this month approved spending $1 million to reimburse Cobb non-profits who’ve been providing emergency food supplies.

Also on Tuesday, commissioners designated several categories to spend the rest of the money, and these are subject to change.