BRIEFS

INDICATORS: Sarasota businesses and nonprofits need to apply for CARES Act funding

By Christine Robinson
Christine Robinson

The community needs to be aware that help is available in recovering from the coronavirus. If you suffered loss as a result of COVID-19, whether as a business or individual, you should apply. If you applied before and abandoned your application, you should look at this revamped program again.

The CARES Act is the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. It was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020. The mission statement is, “The CARES Act provides fast and direct economic assistance for American workers and families, small businesses, and preserves jobs for American industries.” 

The money for the CARES Act flows through the states and to the county for distribution. On June 10, 2020, the Governor announced that counties with a population under 500,000 would have a quarter of the money they were eligible for made available to them. Sarasota County signed a contract with the Florida Department of Emergency Management for the first $18.9 million on July 23, 2020. Applications became available on September 16, 2020.

The county has learned a lot since those applications went out and, fortunately, has changed the program dramatically and loosened the requirements. The Argus Foundation was, expectantly, flooded with questions and requests for help from the general community because of the way the program was structured. Our organization was not equipped to help, but we have done our best to assist in any way we could.         

We used the feedback we received from the community to advocate for changes, and the County Administrator was responsive after hearing an avalanche of problems from several business organizations. On October 1, the County Administrator brought specific changes to Sarasota County’s programs, which were thankfully implemented by the County Commission.

The newly revamped program has been expanded from a maximum of a $20,000 reimbursement program to a maximum of a $49,999.99 grant program. The business losses were coming in much larger than the $20,000 maximum originally set. 

The changes to the program also included the ability to prove loss in two ways. First, as before, you could submit supporting documentation of a COVID-19 negative impact using your records. The newly developed second option is much simpler. An applicant can attest to the COVID-19 negative impact using an online form.      

The county also listened to the plight of the nonprofit sector, which the county was treating like a government as opposed to a business. Our county has a plethora of nonprofits employing a lot of people who were severely impacted by COVID-19. Many nonprofits continued to stay open and operate at a loss in order to help our community in its greatest time of need. Upon the recommendation of the County Administrator, the County Commission decided to appropriately treat non-profits like businesses for purposes of the grants. 

On September 18, the Governor announced his requirements for the next phase of funding, which is $15 million. In order to access that funding, the county must have a plan and show how the first $18.9 million was spent.

The County Commission made that plan on October 1. In fact, it made a plan for the rest of the $56 million that the county is eligible for under the CARES Act. Businesses and nonprofits will be eligible for a total of $34 million. In order to continue to access their share of monies, the county must get the first phase distributed.

We know that, because the requirements were so cumbersome, many businesses and nonprofits who need the money did not apply or abandoned their applications mid-stream. The Argus Foundation encourages you to take another look at the program and see the changes. Try again if you abandoned your application. 

It is important that you make sure your application is complete and accurate, but we urge you to apply as soon as you are able. The faster we grant out the first phase, the more money our community can access to recover, which also benefits individuals as well. 

The recovery of our community is paramount. If our businesses and non-profits don’t survive, our community does not survive.

Go to:  https://www.scgov.net/government/health-and-human-services/covid-19-coronavirus/sarasota-county-cares-5898 for more information and for the application.

Christine Robinson is executive director of the Argus Foundation and was on the Sarasota County Commission from 2010 to 2016. Contact her at christine@argusfoundation.org.