New Round Of Pandemic Relief Funds Available in WH Starting Tuesday

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Starting Tuesday, West Hartford businesses and nonprofits will, again, be eligible for some grant funding earmarked for pandemic relief.

According to the Town of West Hartford, the Small Business and Nonprofit Recovery Grant Program will reopen to West Hartford businesses beginning Tuesday, Nov. 1.

The grant program provides one-time financial assistance up to $10,000 to eligible West Hartford businesses and nonprofit organizations.

To qualify, businesses or nonprofits must have 50 or fewer full-time employees, operate in West Hartford and demonstrate adverse impacts by the COVID pandemic.

The West Hartford Town Council June 28 approved the allocation of $2 million to support this program, which is made possible with entitlement funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), also known as Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF).

Kristen Gorski, Town of West Hartford economic development coordinator, said the program provides much-needed funding as businesses continue to rebound from the pandemic.

“The recovery grant program helps our businesses and non-profits regain their strength so they can thrive and prosper for years to come,” she said.

“Now that the program has been in operation for a few months, we wanted to reintroduce the grant program to make sure businesses knew they could take advantage of this fantastic financial opportunity.”

The town has received 134 requests since July 20.

The current application period will open on Tuesday and will stay open until all of the $2 million are awarded.

“The health and vitality of our community is dependent upon our small business and non-profit sectors succeeding. We understand how difficult and unpredictable these past few years have been for these organizations," West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said.

"They have worked tirelessly to keep things going and we hope this grant opportunity will provide some much needed relief.”

Applications can be submitted for grants up to $10,000.

This grant program operates on a reimbursement basis for two types of eligible projects:

• COVID-19 Relief Assistance Grant, where businesses/organizations that can demonstrate negative impacts from the COVID-19 public health emergency should apply.

• New or Enhanced Program Assistance Grant, where a new or enhanced program must meet the criteria of directly responding to the negative impact of COVID-19.

To help small businesses better understand and apply for the grant program, Denise Whitford, business advisor with Connecticut Small Business Development Center, is available for free, in-person, confidential, one-on-one advising at West Hartford Town Hall on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. She can be reached at 860-576-5135 or denise.whitford@uconn.edu to schedule an appointment.

Send questions about eligibility and program guidelines to ARPAgrants@westhartfordct.gov.

The eligibility requirements, projects, grant guidelines and application are found on the Town of West Hartford’s Economic Development webpage at this link.