HoCo RISE Business Relief Grant Recipients Revealed Wednesday

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — On Wednesday, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball will reveal the recipients of the first round of HoCo RISE Business Relief Grants. Howard County allocated $5.7 million towards the grant program to provide financial assistance to businesses in targeted sectors that have been most impacted by the coronavirus and plan to reopen.

“Our goal was to rapidly provide critical funds to local businesses who were the most impacted by pandemic mitigation efforts,” said Ball in a statement. “These grants address immediate needs and ensure businesses have the funds, resources and support to adapt to safety and regulation changes.”

The business grants include:

• A Storefront Retail Assistance Program providing $2.7 million to locally-owned, small retailers and service merchants in commercial space who have been forced to close because of the governor’s non-essential business order.
• An Agriculture Assistance Program providing $800,000 in total grant assistance to support local, full or part-time farms affected by the decreased demand by local restaurants as well as a drastic decline in commodity prices.
• A Restaurant Assistance Program providing $2.0 million to locally-owned restaurants for support for accommodations required to reopen outdoor or indoor service and customer access.