Businesses could apply if they have not received previous aid from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program or the city of Fresno.
It is not a first-come, first-serve program; the county is expected to pick the recipients of the grants through a random drawing by each district.
The application will become available in the next few days and will be accepted for two weeks.
The Board said they're hoping the program will help at least 1,000 businesses, with up to $5,000 per company. They can only have less than ten full-time employees, or equivalent, to qualify.
Supervisor Buddy Mendes said the city of Fresno should be excluded since it has CARES Act funding. Other supervisors did not.
Supervisor Buddy Mendes wants to exclude city of Fresno businesses because the city already has CARES Act $, but because of size the county’s other cities do not.
— Corin Hoggard (@corinhoggard) May 12, 2020
Brandau says they’re excluded if they got city money or have more than 10 full-time employees (or equivalent.)
The Fresno City Council has helped about 120 small businesses, through its Save Our Small Businesses fund totaling $750,000. They're also set to vote on Thursday on a new $2 million grant program to help local small businesses.
This is a developing story.
