Last week the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved spending $40 million in federal CARES Act funds to help more than 3,000 small businesses with relief grants.
Those grants are being used primarily to pay and hire employees, and can be used to meet other basic expenses, such as rent and utilities.
The vote was 5-0, and came after commissioners reworked the terms of a memorandum of understanding to distribute the remainder of an original $50 million allotment for businesses suffering from COVID-19 shutdowns.
Commissioners approved $7.5 million in relief grants in July to 409 businesses. Those recipients were chosen by a committee chosen by Select Cobb, the economic development office of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, which was hired by the county to distribute the funds.
Many of the applicants had received federal relief funding under the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) or through the U.S. Small Business Administration, which wasn’t originally permitted in order to get a county CARES Act grant.
Commissioners then voted to relax that requirement, and more than 3,000 small businesses applied.
Amounts varied depending on whether a business had received PPP/SBA funding. The general limit on those businesses was $11,700, while the top tier for businesses who had not received other aid was $20,000.
A total of 3,647 businesses were approved for the CARES Act funds from the county and are listed as follows:
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