Donate to the business grant!
Did you know that donating to the local business grant through the Chamber's strategic partnership with the North County Economic Foundation is tax-deductible?
Learn more about the positive impact of your investment in our community.
What is the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Fund Program?
On December 15th, 2020, the Atascadero City Council passed a Resolution authorizing the use of $250,000 from the City’s General Fund to provide small business grants for Atascadero businesses that are significantly impacted by the state’s regional stay-at-home order that went into effect on December 6th, 2020.
The latest stay-at-home order resulted in a shutdown of many business categories including all on-site dining, personal services (barbers, hairdressers, nail salons etc.), fitness centers, dance studios, family entertainment/theaters, and related uses from operating. Restaurants, breweries, wineries, coffee shops, and other food and beverage services may now only operate on a delivery or to-go basis. The new regulation will continue an already devastating effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on many of the small businesses in Atascadero.
The City’s Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Fund Program is designed to support small businesses affected by the recent regional stay-at-home-order that are facing financial impacts, potential layoffs, or business closures.
The application period begins Thursday, December 17th, and ends at noon on January 4th, 2021, with grants to be awarded in January. The application can be found by clicking here. In addition, there is a dedicated email to send in your grant applications to covidgrant@atascadero.org. The grant funding spending period will be for a period of three months or until April 30th, 2021. It is expected that some businesses may also be eligible for additional assistance from state or federal funds, as they become available. If the grant requests received exceed the amount of available funds, the City will rank the eligibility of each request based on the grant criteria in order to select recipients. The City is also welcoming private donations to help extend the program to a greater number of businesses.
*Permissible use of the grant funds includes payroll expenses, business space/building rent, and other creative approaches and strategies to reduce or eliminate the need for layoffs or closures.
For more information about the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant, please call (805) 461-5035, email covidgrant@atascadero.org or visit our website www.atascadero.org/COVID-19.
What is the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Fund Program?
On December 15th, 2020, the Atascadero City Council passed a Resolution authorizing the use of $250,000 from the City’s General Fund to provide small business grants for Atascadero businesses that are significantly impacted by the state’s regional stay-at-home order that went into effect on December 6, 2020.
The latest stay-at-home order resulted in a shutdown of many business categories including all on-site dining, personal services (barbers, hairdressers, nail salons etc.), fitness centers, dance studios, family entertainment/theaters, and related uses from operating. Restaurants, breweries, wineries, coffee shops, and other food and beverage services may now only operate on a delivery or to-go basis. The new regulation will continue an already devastating effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on many of the small businesses in Atascadero.
The City’s Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Fund Program is designed to support small businesses affected by the recent regional stay-at-home-order that are facing financial impacts, potential layoffs, or business closures.
The application period begins Thursday, December 17th, and ends at 12 noon on January 4th, 2020, with grants to be awarded in January. The application can be found by clicking here. In addition, there is a dedicated email to send in your grant applications to covidgrant@atascadero.org. The grant funding spending period will be for a period of three months or until April 30, 2021. It is expected that some businesses may also be eligible for additional assistance from state or federal funds, as they become available. If the grant requests received exceed the amount of available funds, the City will rank the eligibility of each request based on the grant criteria in order to select recipients. The City is also welcoming private donations to help extend the program to a greater number of businesses.
*Permissible use of the grant funds includes payroll expenses, business space/building rent, and other creative approaches and strategies to reduce or eliminate the need for layoffs or closures
For more information about the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant, please call (805) 461-5035, email covidgrant@atascadero.org or visit our website www.atascadero.org/COVID-19.
Your business may qualify for a maximum of up to $5,000 if it:
- Have a business storefront in Atascadero that has been in operation and open to the public, to the greatest extent possible, for 6 months or more prior to the new business restrictions.
- Is in good standing with the City with a current business license and a conforming business location.
- Is able to demonstrate that they have been directly impacted by the stay-at-home orders.
- Substantially adheres to local COVID-19 guidelines.
- Fits a category of a food and beverage service, bar, brewery, winery, personal service, gym, dance studio, martial arts, family entertainment center, theater, or closely related businesses. Businesses that do not qualify for the grant are general retail, general services or other essential services that are not required to close as part of the regional order.
- Utilizes the funds to create solutions that mitigate layoffs and/or business closure. Requests must be reasonable, necessary, and directly related to preventing potential layoffs or facility closures resulting from the effects of COVID-19, and must have taken place during COVID-19 related State-required business closures, through the end of the grant period.
How can I donate to the program?
Thank you for your interest in investing in our Atasca-amazing community! Your donation to the grant fund program will help support local businesses in Atascadero. The Chamber and the North County Economic Foundation (“NCEF”), a non-profit 501(c)(3) are strategically partnering to provide a way for private citizens to support the emergency grant fund with private donations. All donations postmarked and/or received by the NCEF between December 18, 2020 through January 4, 2021 will be donated to the Atascadero Small Business Emergency Grant Fund created by the City of Atascadero.* Our NCEF tax ID is #46-1183363.
Your contribution makes a big difference for small, local businesses in our community. Not only are you helping to keep families and individuals who own businesses afloat, but by extension, you're also supporting their local employees and the families of those employees. Your donation could make the difference for a business surviving month-to-month during this time.
There are two ways to give:
- Checks made payable to North County Economic Foundation and mailed to:
North County Economic Foundation
c/o Atascadero Chamber
6907 El Camino Real, Suite A.
Atascadero, CA 93422
- Donate with a Debit Card or Credit Card by clicking on the Donate Button below.**
*The NCEF will take a 2% administrative fee on all donations to cover bookkeeping and banking expenses.
** NCEF is charged 1.7% for each debit or credit card transaction. Debit and credit card donations will be reduced by a total of 3.7%, which includes the administrative fee of 2%.
If you have any questions about donating, please feel free to contact our team at 805-466-2044, or at Josh@AtascaderoChamber.org.
