By John Estridge
Union County is going to apply for a $250,000 Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) Cobra Phase 3 grant to help small businesses, which have been economically hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A public hearing on the grant was held at the Union County Commissioners’ meeting Friday morning, February 19.
Greg Beumer, of Kleinpeter Consulting Group, ran the public hearing and was there to answer any questions people at the meeting had about the grant.
He said businesses in the county can receive up to $10,000 each, and this is a grant and not a loan. Loans have to be repaid while grants do not.
Commissioners Tim Williams and Howard Curry both said the small businesses in the community need some relief.
Williams said he is sure most businesses have lost more than $10,000 during the pandemic and its effects on how long people can be open and how they operate their businesses. While Williams mentioned the restaurant industry as being hard hit, Curry said it is all small businesses.
Buemer said he will get the grant application to OCRA by March 11, and the county will know if it received it by mid April.
