Gov. Ralph Northam today allocated an additional $20 million in federal CARES Act funding to the Rebuild VA economic recovery fund to meet demand for the program and fulfill pending grant applications.
This new funding will bring the program total to $120 million.
A release from the governor’s office projects that the additional funding for Rebuild VA will enable more than 300 small business and nonprofit organizations that applied before the last round of funding was exhausted in early December to receive grants.
Eligible applicants that are still in the pipeline have been notified via email that their applications have been re-opened.
Earlier this month, Northam announced that Rebuild VA had fully committed the $100 million in federal funds previously allocated to the program, which provided grants to 2,500 small businesses and nonprofits whose normal operations were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic public health response.
More than 45 percent of the available funding was awarded to nearly 1,000 small businesses and nonprofits located in low-income and economically disadvantaged communities, and about $50 million was awarded to women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses.
To date, Rebuild VA has received nearly 20,000 applications, and the average grant award was $35,636.
“Virginia’s small business community remains diligent in protecting the health and safety of their employees and customers, and we must continue to support them in every way we can,” Northam said. “With Congress finally acting on a long-overdue relief package, I am also grateful that Virginia businesses will now have another opportunity to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program in the near future.”
For additional information on Rebuild VA, please visit governor.virginia.gov/RebuildVA.
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