Clinton County Board of Commissioners Awards $1.64M in Grants to 107 Clinton County Small Business
Grants Support Businesses from All Corners of Clinton County
Today, the Clinton County Board of Commissioners and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) announced 107 Clinton County small businesses will receive grants from the Clinton County Small Business Relief Program. Grants range from $10,000-$25,000 based on total employment and collectively total $1,640,000 funded by the county’s first tranche of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
“The Clinton County Board of Commissioners is proud to be helping small businesses all over the county as they continue to suffer from economic harm caused by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Clinton County Board of Commissioners Chair Kam Washburn. “These grants are without a doubt a good use of our ARPA funds especially heading into the holiday season when, unfortunately, COVID-19 seems to be resurfacing. LEAP’s help has been instrumental in helping us spread these funds to all areas of Clinton County, and those areas hit the hardest.”
Fifty-eight percent of the 185 eligible applications received awards, which were distributed throughout all corners of the county. Notably, 49% of eligible applicants were from women-owned businesses, with 46% of awards reaching this significant group of Clinton County business owners.
“LEAP has been proud to work on behalf of Clinton County to quickly get these funds in the hands of Clinton County small-business owners,” said Bob Trezise, president and CEO of LEAP. “Once again, it’s looking like small business grants such as the Clinton County Small Business Relief grants are providing a lifeline to small businesses as they face ongoing challenges from COVID-19. Thankfully this program was able to award a substantial percentage of applicants and will have a big impact in helping many businesses gear up for a strong 2022.”
In August 2021, the Clinton County Board of Commissioners voted to allocate funds from the county’s first tranche of ARPA funds for small business grants and selected LEAP to design and administer the program. The grant program was designed to assist small businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with an emphasis on demonstrated negative impact due to the pandemic, business longevity, financial need and community impact in three grant categories:
- Traditional retail, goods and services (non-food)
- Restaurants/eateries/taverns
- Sole proprietors
Joel Dillingham and Lee Streeter are co-owners of Looking Glass Brewing Company, which received a $20,000 Clinton County Small Business Relief grant. Dillingham says these funds are important for helping the business stay stable through the end of 2021 and start 2022 off strong, “We are beyond thrilled and thankful for this grant from the Clinton County Board of Commissioners. These funds will be crucial in helping our business and employees prosper in 2022.”
Grant distribution, awardees and program documentation are available on LEAP’s website at purelansing.com/ClintonGrants.
Category: Press Releases, COVID-19, Clinton County Grants