The Department of Commerce has now issued more than 7,800 grants to small businesses across the state in an effort to keep local businesses afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The grants come as part of the $100 million Working Washington grant program announced by Gov. Jay Inslee back in November. Through that program, the state Department of Commerce says they've given $12,500 grants to roughly 7,200 businesses, and grants of $4,500 to another 630 businesses. Those 630 had recently received $8,000 resiliency grants, but also qualified for Working Washington grants and were given the additional money to bring their funding in line with what other Working Washington recipients had been given.
The department says they received more than 28,000 applications for this third round of Working Washington Grants. Under the program, they were instructed to prioritize small businesses that had been disproportionately impacted by pandemic shutdowns and safety guidelines. As a result, more than half of the 7,200 approved grants went to restaurants, with fitness centers making up the second-largest portion of grant recipients.
Find more information here: https://patch.com/washington/edmonds/s/hd9rr/7-800-small-businesses-receive-pandemic-relief-grants