West Hudson Valley News

 Mayor Steven T. Noble is pleased to announce the launch of the City of Kingston's ARPA Small Business Grant Program, which is made possible with funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

The City has allocated $1,000,000 of its $17.3 million ARPA award to aid local for-profit businesses within City limits in responding to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Grant awards of up to $10,000 each will help businesses keep their doors open, protect local jobs threatened by the pandemic, support community recovery, and increase resiliency. 

“We know the pandemic was extremely challenging for our local businesses, which is why it was imperative that we set aside one million dollars from our federal Covid relief funds to help support small businesses in our community. We are thrilled to get this grant program underway, to get this infusion of cash directly to our Kingston businesses,” said Mayor Noble. “I hope this funding helps our small businesses recover from the lingering effects of the pandemic and thrive well into the future.”

Eligible Kingston businesses may apply for cash assistance to help mitigate the impacts of revenue reductions associated with the pandemic. The City anticipates awarding approximately 100 small businesses a one-time cash grant of up to $10,000. The grant application, which can be found here, is due no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, March 17, 2023.

To be eligible for an award, a business must:

• Be a for-profit business based within City of Kingston limits
• Have 50 or fewer employees
• Be registered to do business in the State of New York unless the business is a sole proprietorship
• Be registered as a DBA If the sole proprietorship does business under a name other than the owner’s 
• Be independently owned and operated and not be dominant in its field of operation
• Have been operating in the City of Kingston prior to October 1, 2021. 
• Not be facing any pending litigation or legal action
• Not have any business owners, including all managing members and/or officers, who have been convicted of financial crimes within the past three years
• Not have received alternate federal, state, or local grant funding to cover the same costs and/or uses included in the application
• Not be suspended or debarred from the use of federal funds
• Not be a franchise, unless the franchise is not a subsidiary of a larger corporation

APRA Background: The City of Kingston conducted extensive outreach to residents, businesses and community leaders to create the Economic Recovery Plan, an outline for allocating the City’s ARPA funding, which was adopted by the Common Council in April 2022. The Economic Recovery Plan was created using federal guidelines, community input, plans for existing projects, and community feedback for new initiatives to support pandemic recovery.

Federal guidelines state that ARPA funds may be used by local governments for:

• Costs associated with responding to Covid-19 or its negative economic impacts
• To support workers performing essential work during the Covid-19 public health emergency
• To cover revenue losses caused by the Covid-19 public health emergency
• To make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure

Further details for the ARPA Small Business Grant program and the application are available at https://engagekingston.com/small-business-grant-program.

Original source can be found here.