Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grants available

Gov. Jay Inslee is offering a new Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant program to assist small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Up to $5 million in funds are provided through the Governor’s Strategic Reserve Fund and administered by the State Department of Commerce. The grant program will provide a limited number of businesses in Washington’s 39 counties with a grant up to $10,000.

  • Small businesses that qualify for the grant program will submit applications through their local county/regional economic development organizations.
  • County/regional economic development organizations will prioritize applications based on the severity of the impact the business is facing due to COVID-19, including from being forced to close by the government-mandated closures, social distancing measures or illness.
  • Recommended awards will be sent to the Department of Commerce for review and vetting.
  • Qualifying applications will be forwarded to the Governor for review and signature.
  • Your local ADO will administer approved awards to the successful company.
  • Awards will be approved on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on the availability of funds. The objective is to support businesses through the crisis and enable them to retain as many employees as possible.

Eligibility

  • Applicants should have been in business for at least one year.
  • Businesses with up to 10 full-time employees (FTEs) may apply for a one-time grant of up to $10,000.
  • Funding is not meant to help launch a business, but to support existing businesses who are specifically affected by the COVID-19 crisis and are vital members of their local community.
  • Applicants are eligible to receive one Working Washington Grant award during the current budget cycle, which ends on 06/30/2021.

Grant Awards

  • County/regional economic development organizations will be asked to verify the size of candidate companies prior to submission.
  • For each award, local economic/development organizations are encouraged to be judicious in discerning an appropriate and proportional amount based on necessity to the business and the business’ importance to the local community so as to ensure that this emergency resource can be utilized by companies across communities in Washington.

Application Process

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and applicants will be accepted or denied on a rolling basis. In Clark County, contact the CREDC to assess your company’s viability and to complete an application. Commerce will not review applications directly submitted to Commerce staff. Applications must be submitted through the local ADO. Due to anticipated volumes, please allow four to six weeks for processing and disbursement of grants.

Approved grant expenditures:

  • Grant funds can be used for operational expenses including rent, supplies/inventory, utility bills, etc. as well as consulting, marketing and training.
  • Applications must include a list of proposed expenses grants will be spent on. Applications without a list of proposed expenses will be considered incomplete. This reimbursement-based grant can assist with outstanding invoices dated March 1 and beyond.

Note that payroll cannot be reimbursed via Working Washington grant program. Please direct all payroll needs to Employment Security Department.

The following expenses are not eligible: capitalized equipment, travel, office equipment, and computer software.

  1. To apply, download the application here.
  2. Save it to your computer.
  3. Fill it out as completely as you can.
  4. Save the completed form and make sure the data has been properly recorded in it.
  5. Email the completed form to the appropriate economic development organization in your county (links on the right (desktop) or below (mobile).
  6. If you need the actual email address, the list can be viewed here.
Joanna Yorke-Payne
Joanna Yorke is the managing editor of the Vancouver Business Journal. She has worked in the journalism field since 2010 after graduating from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University in Pullman. Yorke worked at The Reflector Newspaper in Battle Ground for six years and then worked at and helped start ClarkCountyToday.com.

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