The L.A. Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund will accept its sixth and final round of small business grant applications this week.Microentrepreneurs, small businesses and nonprofits have until Friday to apply for grants between $5,000 and $25,000. Eligibility for grants of different sizes is based on an applicant’s annual income – street vendors and freelancers, for example, can apply for $5,000 grants if they make less than $100,000 a year.Businesses that applied in previous rounds and were not selected for grants can apply again in this final round.The grant program is funded jointly by the city and county of Los Angeles and administered by the Los Angeles branch of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., or LISC, a nonprofit community development financial institution. The fund started with a budget of $3 million, but in September received a $100 million boost comprising $40 million from the city of Los Angeles and $60 million from the county.“LISC L.A. is proud to help lead this economic recovery initiative that includes administering loans, grants, technical assistance, and other resources to local entities throughout the L.A. region,” LISC L.A.
Executive Director Tunua Thrash-Ntuk said in a statement. “The economic stress caused by COVID-19 has been particularly damaging to small businesses and organizations who have been unable to access federal funding due to size, lack of technical assistance and cultural barriers.”Since the program launched July 6, LISC has identified 5,000 “finalists” that will receive grants if they can present their tax return and other required business documentation. These items are not needed at the time of application, but will be needed if an applicant is selected. LISC said in a statement it plans to select another 2,000 finalists from this week’s round.A representative from LISC said the organization will process and distribute grants through the end of the year and expects to exhaust the fund’s entire $100 million budget.
Last Round of Grant Applications for L.A. Recovery Fund
