Chambers of Commerce Eligible for City’s COVID Grants

Chambers of commerce are now eligible to apply for grants through the Los Angeles Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund. Upon launching its fourth grant-making round Aug. 31, the fund announced an expanded eligible applicant pool that includes 501(c)(6) organizations such as chambers of commerce that have more than $50,000 and less than $1 million in annual revenue. Such entities can apply for grants of $15,000. The grant-making program is funded jointly by the city and county of Los Angeles and administered by the Los Angeles branch of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, or LISC, a nonprofit community development financial institution. The new eligibility of chambers comes from a push by Valley L.A. City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who urged LISC to broaden its criteria for nonprofit applicants, Blumenfield’s Communications Director Jake Flynn confirmed. Vahid Khorsand, an analyst at BWS Financial Inc. in Woodland Hills, sits on Blumenfield’s Community Action Team on Business. He also formerly served as president of the Encino Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the United Chambers of Commerce in Van Nuys. “We’ve been going back and forth with (Blumenfield’s Deputy Chief of Staff) John Popoch,” Khorsand told the Business Journal. “He was asking about how to support local chambers. How do we get them direct funding from the city? Because the (Paycheck Protection Program) and all the other programs don’t apply to 501(c)(6)s.” He said ineligibility for federal grants hurts at a time when chambers aren’t able to stage traditional fundraising events. “You also have sponsorships that are down because businesses are struggling,” he added. Flynn said that helping chambers directly helps small businesses. “Chambers serve an enormous purpose in our community, connecting businesses with critical state and federal resources. That’s a big part of what chambers are doing right now in terms of helping with COVID-19,” he said. “We need to do everything we can to keep that going.”