LA County Businesses Can Apply for COVID Grants

Los Angeles County businesses in the personal care and retail sector can apply for $10,000 grants starting Monday and through the end of the week.

The LA Regional COVID Fund distributed nearly $100 million in grants last year to small businesses and nonprofits, and this new round of funding dedicates $4.7 million to personal care and retail businesses.

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Applications for funding from the Keep Our Shops on the Block Grant opened on Monday and run through Sunday; an earlier batch of applications were accepted from April 5-11. Businesses that already applied do not need to apply again, officials said.

Eligible businesses include hair and beauty salons, nail salons, estheticians, skin care, barbershops, dry cleaners, bakeries and automotive stores. They must have an open storefront in LA County, excluding the city of Los Angeles, make less than $1 million in revenue per year, and show proof of financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"As orange tier reopening continues for businesses throughout LA County, we remain committed to reviving commercial corridors," said Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs Director Rafael Carbajal. "While this funding will help our struggling businesses, we remain committed to advocating for additional funding at this critical moment."

The county chose the personal care and retail sector for the grants because those businesses were among the most impacted by the pandemic, as restrictions forced closures for much of 2020, officials said.

"As our business community works towards a safe in-person reopening under the updated COVID-19 guidelines, the County and LISC LA are moving tirelessly to ensure financial support is reaching those hit hardest by the pandemic," said Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation Los Angeles, which serves as the program's administrator.