Fresno Co. Board of Supervisors unveils small business grant program

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.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2020
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FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno County Board of Supervisors announced a small business grant program, Helping Under-served Business (HUB), with up to $5 million in federal funding from the CARES Act.

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.

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.