One hundred and thirty two small businesses in Albany County will receive grant funding later this week through the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force small business grant program, which was created in December 2020 to help alleviate financial burdens caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press conference on Thursday, Albany County Legislature Chairman Andrew Joyce joined County Executive Daniel P. McCoy and Linda MacFarlane, Executive Director of the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region, to announce that 132 applicants were selected to receive up to $5,000 in grants.

“The Albany County Legislature, and our COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force got to work immediately to identify this need in our small business community in Albany County,” Joyce said. “What we did was make the most significant investment in relief for small businesses in the Capital Region in the wake of this devastating pandemic. I want to thank my colleagues in the Legislature, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, the Community Loan Fund and the Advance Albany County Alliance for their partnership in what became an incredibly popular and successful program. We hope to do more in the near future. This is local government at its finest.”

“Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy and have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporting these 132 businesses in their time of need is an investment to preserve the vitality of our neighborhoods for the future.  They represent a significant percentage of the County’s employment base and have suffered greatly through no fault of their own,” McCoy said. “I commend the County Legislature for making this funding available and want to thank the Advance Albany County Alliance and the Community Loan Fund for quickly and effectively administering this program. Hopefully these grants will serve as a stop gap until the next round of stimulus funding from the Federal Government is available to them. We know more help is needed and look forward to continued partnerships to rebuild our local economy.”

“The Community Loan Fund is delighted to assist with the Albany County COVID-19 Small Business Grant Program,” said MacFarlane. “Every day, we hear from people who are at risk of losing their livelihoods to this pandemic. They are hard working men and women, who have made enormous sacrifices to build their businesses up, and now, through no fault of their own, they are right on the edge of losing everything. We commend the Albany County Executive and the Albany County Legislature for creating this program that will offer these businesses a lifeline and help them sustain through this difficult time.”

The grant program is being administered through the Advance Albany County Alliance Local Development Corporation in partnership with the Community Loan Fund, who helped process the approximately 268 applications received in January.

According to MacFarlane, all applications were reviewed to determine that it met all eligibility requirements including: being located in Albany County, generating sales tax, demonstrating a revenue decrease of more than 25 percent and having less than 50 employees.

After being deemed eligible, applications were ranked based on need, the percentage of revenue lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and if they received previous federal or grant funding. Minority and women-owned businesses along with immigration and veteran status were also tracked during the process.

Businesses will able to use the funding to assist in paying up to two months of back rent, up to two weeks of perishable goods, and/or expenses related to retrofitting the business for COVID-19 such as personal protective equipment, contactless purchasing, online ordering services, and more.

The breakdown of recipients includes businesses throughout various communities in the County and 79 of the 132 applicants, 60 percent, were minority and/or women-owned businesses.

“I am very happy that we were able to fund this program and come to the aid of so many businesses,” said Dennis Feeney, Majority Leader of the Legislature.

The small business grant program was created as a result of recommendations made by the bipartisan COVID-19 Economic Task Force, convened by Chairman Joyce in the spring, to analyze the impact the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was having on small businesses. The Task Force consisted of Chairwoman Wanda Willingham and Legislators Matthew Peter and Jeff Perlee who began to meet with small area businesses, Chambers of Commerce and Business Improvement Districts in July.

“When the Legislature designated half a million dollars for the small business grant program, our aim was to help as many businesses as possible. We hope this funding gives these businesses the little boost they need to not only keep their doors open but to thrive in the months to come,” Willingham said. “I want to thank my colleagues for making small business relief a priority and for our County Executive, the Advance Albany County Alliance and the Community Loan Fund for partnering with us to distribute this funding so quickly.”

“I am pleased with the execution of the CERT’s vision in getting grants out to sales-tax generating small businesses who were at risk of closing due to the pandemic,” Peter said. “It was of vital importance to help businesses that were left out of federal relief programs, especially minority- and women-owned businesses. I am thankful for the work of the Community Loan Fund and the Advance Albany County Alliance LDC in getting these grants out. Small businesses are the cornerstone of our community and they should be protected at all costs.”

Perlee added, “This is an important step in our economic recovery and I am glad that Albany County do its part to help our local businesses and help restore our sales tax base.”

All businesses will be notified of their award status on Friday and a complete listing of the recipients will be posted on the Albany County Legislature’s website.