As the deadline approaches for Johnson County to spend its remaining American Rescue Plan dollars, the county is pledging $500,000 toward small businesses.
The grant program, officially called the Underestimated Small Business Grant initiative, offers $3,500 to $20,000 of reserve American Rescue Plan Act funds to local businesses for business assistance and education, according to a Greater Iowa City Inc. press release.
The funds will be dispersed over three rounds set to occur in 2025. In 2021, Johnson County received $29 million in funding and was required to use or pledge the entirety of those funds by December 2024. The first round opened on Jan. 1 and will close at the end of the month, according to the release.
The program is designed to address two categories of support, according to the release.One category is operational support, which is dedicated to costs like payroll and rent. The second category is classified as storefront improvements, which will fund interior and exterior upgrades to businesses.
The program is a combination of efforts by three Johnson County organizations: Greater Iowa City Inc., the South of 6 Business District, and the Community Foundation of Johnson County.
Greater Iowa City Inc. Director of Marketing and Communications Jesse Wallace said in the release that the grant program is allowing three organizations to share resources to help businesses in the area.
“This grant opportunity exemplifies the strength of collaboration,” he said in the release. “We are proud to partner with South of 6 and the Community Foundation of Johnson County to bring meaningful support to our small business community.”
Three information sessions are available to help applicants during January. These sessions offer assistance in applying electronically to be considered for the grant awards.
Originally, the grant money was dispersed to an out-of-state organization that answered the county’s request for proposals. However, that organization had “too much leaning towards staff support,” South of 6 Executive Director Maurice Davis said.
The county opened up another request for proposals as a result, hoping to disperse the funds locally to organizations that needed them more. Greater Iowa City Inc., South of 6, and the Community Foundation of Johnson County came together to make a combined proposal.
A major goal of the grant program is to provide business assistance to businesses in the South of 6 area, which is the area Davis represents on the south side of Highway 6 in Iowa City. He said it is classified as a specific business improvement district.
“My job is to try to help create an environment that allows those businesses to be successful,” he said.
Davis said a part of what the program is designed to assist with is traditionally underrepresented businesses that have barriers to receiving necessary support.
“Everything that we’re doing is trying to look at what the normal barriers for underrepresented businesses are and asking how we can provide resources,” he said.
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Davis could not share information on current applicants or the selection process.
Ellie Moore, vice president of community impact and outreach at Community Foundation of Johnson County, said the trifecta efforts between the organizations are benefitted by their organization, which acts as a nonprofit for nonprofits, so to speak.
“We exist to serve other nonprofits,” Moore said. “We have a charitable giving bank. We hold funds for donors and work one-on-one with them to figure out where their charitable donations should be going.”
Moore said the grant program’s benefits and what other programs have done historically is provide small but substantial benefits to put businesses in a better financial plane.
“This kind of short, seed-grader influx of dollars can put you over the edge and get you into this space to succeed,” she said.
Moore said the most remarkable part of the program is the collaboration between three organizations. She said Greater Iowa City Inc. has technical development knowledge, South of 6 works directly with minority business owners and has strong business coaching offerings, and the Community Foundation can offer software, systems, and grant experience.
“We all have different skills and resources, we might as well get them together,” she said.
She said going forward, a combination of resources is something she would like to see to create a stronger business environment in Iowa City.
“Now we have a model for the future,” Moore said. “So, there’s something else that comes up that we can work out together.”