Small Business Grant Program

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Recognizing that small businesses are the backbone of our community and the significant impact on small businesses from the COVID 19 pandemic, New Hanover County created a Small Business Economic Incentive Grant Program that provided 130 small business owners with grants of $10,000 each. The grants were provided to businesses for the purpose ensuring businesses were able to rehire or retain employees and address public health concerns with enhanced hygiene and safety. The Small Business Grants Program was created utilizing federal funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the county utilized community partners to help ensure a fairly-distributed and well-managed process. Wilmington Business Development (WBD) who provides economic development services to New Hanover County assisted the county in collecting applications and ensuring documentation was complete, and Live Oak Bank, a locally owned bank and large SBA lender disbursed the funds to 130 awardees.