Des Moines businesses could receive up to $10,000 after the city council passed a relief package. | Pixabay
Des Moines businesses could receive up to $10,000 after the city council passed a relief package. | Pixabay
About 140 local small businesses that have been affected by COVID-19 in Des Moines will be receiving $3,500 to $10,000 over the next two weeks as part of a relief package passed by the Des Moines City Council and Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie.
The Small Business Recovery program has a price tag of over $1 million with the potential to reach over $1.3 million, according to Economic Development Director Erin Olson-Douglas.
"We want to see our Des Moines businesses – their owners, their employees and our residents – emerge from these struggles and thrive," Olson-Douglas said in a City of Des Moines release.
About 240 applications have already been received in the first two rounds of funding with women and minorities comprising about half of the first round of applicants.
"The good news is that more help is on the way. We are reaching out to applicants that did not provide full information in the initial application and will be working on a second round of grants to Des Moines small businesses," Olson-Douglas said in the release.
The relief is part of a wider regional response to COVID-19 that includes nearby cities, counties and local corporations.
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