Santa Clarita Small Businesses Get Microgrants

Officials from the city of Santa Clarita and the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. announced 149 local small businesses have been approved for COVID-19 relief grants of up to $5,000. The grants come through the Santa Clarita Small Business COVID Relief Grant program, run jointly by the city and economic development organization using funding allocated by the federal government’s CARES Act. It will give about $500,000 of the $2.74 million earmarked by the city of Santa Clarita for small business relief efforts.The program, which was approved Oct. 13 by Santa Clarita’s City Council, aims to reimburse small businesses for expenses incurred from COVID-19-related business interruptions. Eligible expenses included adaptive business services, physical space modifications, health screening services, remote working equipment, personal protective equipment and cleaning products. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees were eligible to apply. Approved businesses were selected by a random lottery conducted by a third-party vendor in late October. They will receive their grants before the end of December.