Washington State Joint Information Center

The governor announced on Sunday he is authorizing additional financial support to help businesses most likely to be impacted by these newest round of restrictions.

Currently, the state department of Commerce is working on a new round of $20 million in Working Washington emergency grants. Information about eligibility and maximum grant amounts will be available within the next two weeks. As a reminder, in the first two rounds of grants, maximum awards were $10,000. Details will be posted to Commerce’s COVID-19 business page as soon as applications are ready.

Commerce is also using an additional $30 million in federal CARES Act funds to leverage additional financing from private investors and create a loan program. The loans would provide favorable terms for businesses struggling to access traditional financing. These loans will serve as a bridge for small- and medium-size businesses toward a sustainable recovery. This is a new program that will take some time to establish. Commerce will provide details in the coming weeks about when loans will be available.

The state is also assessing if any additional CARES Act funding remains and could be distributed to businesses before the funds expire on Dec. 31.

We know this is an incredibly challenging and uncertain time for small business owners and their employees. If you haven’t already checked, there may be resources available from your county or through the U.S. Small Business Administration. In addition, the Small Business Development Center operated by the SBA and Washington State University is an incredible resource to help you navigate available SBA loans and provide you with no-cost business consulting to help you retool or update your business plan.