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WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners have opened the door to spending the county's American Rescue Plan funds by putting $3 million toward local businesses.
Commissioners unanimously allocated $2 million to continuing the CARES 4 Trumbull Small Business Relief Fund, a grant program for local businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, commissioners approved $1 million to create a revolving loan fund for county businesses.
The money will come out of the county's $38 million in ARP funds and is subject to approval from the commissioners' legal consultant on ARP.
Commissioners tentatively have committed to using ARP funds for other projects, including county sanitary water and sewer projects, but the business relief program is the first ARP-funded item to hit the agenda and receive a vote.
Commissioners during Wednesday's meeting discussed the amount and ultimately approved the $2 million for grants and $1 million for loans at the suggestion of Commissioner Niki Frenchko, who said it was "extremely important" to help suffering businesses get back on track.
Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said he and commissioners Frenchko and Frank Fuda want to make sure they have enough funding available to tackle a variety of projects, but added, "The ARP funding and how that's being spent should be our top priority."
As for the funding for business relief, Cantalamessa said, "It's critically important that we get the assistance to the businesses in this area that so desperately need it."
The first iteration of the CARES 4 Trumbull program in December 2020 distributed almost $1 million to 112 businesses in Trumbull County and helped retain more than 650 jobs, according to Teresa Miller, executive director of Valley Economic Development Partners, the agency administering the funding.
That money, which came from the county's portion of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) funding, was distributed within about three weeks.
In this round, grants up to $10,000 and are not to exceed 25 percent of a business' gross revenue, according to a document from Valley Partners.
Businesses must meet certain criteria to be eligible, including having a revenue reduction of at least 25 percent from 2019 to 2020, being operational since January 2019, having less than $1.5 million gross annual revenue and having 50 or fewer employees as of Dec. 31, 2020. Businesses also must be located in Trumbull County.
Applications for businesses that were not assisted in the first round of grants are expected to open in late March, with applications for businesses seeking a second round of assistance beginning about a month later in late April, all through Valley Partners' website. Grants are first come, first served.
The revolving loan program will allow money to be lent back out as loans are repaid, Miller said. She said Valley Partners started a revolving loan in the late '70s and it has provided loans for the past 40 years.
"So these funds will be available in perpetuity for years and years to come," Miller said. "It's a loan program that will be around when your kids want to start a business, as opposed to a quick fix now."
There will be a regular application for the loan program, also available on Valley Partners' website. Miller said she expects the average loan size to be $75,000 -- with a maximum of $150,000 -- and the average interest rate will be 4 percent, with a term dependent on collateral. Funds will be for fixed assets and working capital, Miller said.
Miller said Mahoning County also allocated funds for grant and revolving loan programs, and those have been successful.