ENTERPRISE — Business owners are being urged to apply for the latest round of COVID-19 assistance from a Community Development Block Grant that Wallowa County received in July 2020, the Board of Commissioners said at its Wednesday, Feb. 16, meeting.

The commissioners met via Zoom with Lisa Dawson, executive director of the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District, who was asking the commissioners to apply to the state for a six-month extension on the grant. NEOEDD’s role is to assist businesses to apply for the grants, determine if they qualify and assess how much funding they could be eligible to receive. Both low-moderate income business owners and employers of low-moderate income workers can apply.

The commissioners approved an extension until Aug. 15 but only gave the NEOEDD until March 31 to recommend a final round of businesses to receive grants and requested that NEOEDD make aggressive efforts to get the word out in the next 45 days.

Commission Chairwoman Susan Roberts recalled that the original grant was for $150,000 and the period for applying for aid under the grant expired Feb. 15.

“There’s still $107 and some-odd thousand in it,” Roberts said. “We have extended it once. Lisa, would you explain why you’re asking for another extension?”

Dawson said there were two reasons she was asking for an extension. 

“One is similar to what Commissioner (Todd) Nash just explained about (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. There are many restrictions on federal funding that’s coming through related to the coronavirus pandemic. … One of the restrictions … is that new grants to businesses cannot duplicate any other pandemic-related funding that a business has received,” she said. “Since most of that other pandemic-related funding is long gone at this point and businesses are still experiencing things like staffing shortages and times when maybe they’ve had to close down because there wasn’t the staff available from quarantining, we think that there’s the potential that businesses have had impacts in the last year that we would be able to respond to.”

State changes

Dawson said state changes also have affected what is considered a COVID-19 pandemic impact.

“One of the things they are now allowing as an impact is staff shortages,” she said. “So if we have businesses that are not able to stay open the hours they want to be open because they don’t have the staff to keep those businesses open for those hours, that is now an eligible impact from the pandemic. That opens up the opportunity for additional businesses to receive funding. So that’s worth a little bit more thought to give us additional time to do outreach.”

Chrystal Allen, the county’s grants administrator, also was present to explain the process for the county to submit paperwork to the state for a grant extension and getting it approved.

Nash asked Dawson if she is aware of anyone in the county currently desirous of the money, and Dawson said she wasn’t. However, she said, “I’m thinking that restaurants are the most likely targets that would have the most visible impacts, in part because their employees are more likely to fit within the low-to-moderate income requirements in order for the business to receive a grant. The question, to me, will be, do those restaurants want to go through the paperwork process? Is it worth it to them?”

Income limits

Employers of low-moderate income employees may qualify for grants of $2,500 per qualifying employee, based on the number of employees being paid an annual wage paid of $36,900 or less, Dawson said.

A low-to-moderate income business owner can apply for up to $10,000, and income limits will vary based on household size, from $36,900 for a one-person household to $69,500 for an eight-person household.

Commissioner John Hillock asked if the grants are limited to businesses such as restaurants.

“We’ve got a few light industries, but I imagine their pay scales might be too high to qualify for some of this funding,” he said. “Some of these places are always looking for new equipment, but I don’t know what the income threshold is. … What about the agricultural sector. Have we exhausted the resources for that?”

Dawson said virtually any industry is eligible, subject to showing pandemic impacts and meeting income and other requirements.

She said that for businesses applying as employers, among the extensive paperwork required to obtain such a grant is verification from both an employer and an employee of how much the worker earns at that business.

“The employee has to sign a paper that says what they earn from that employer,” Dawson said. “It’s based on what they get from that employer, not on household income or tax returns.”

Roberts sought confirmation that for employers who are applying based on the number of low-moderate income employees, the income limit only pertains to what the employees are earning in that job.

“So it’s just based on what I’m getting from this job, not my other seven jobs or whatever else I have for income,” she asked Dawson.

“Correct,” Dawson said.

For employers who apply for funding based on the number of qualifying employees, the grant money goes to the business to use for business expenses, not to the employee.

Hillock asked, “I could use it to buy a new oven with, right?”

Dawson agreed that a business owner could do so, as well as purchasing other equipment and supplies.

Nash was eager to see area businesses and employers at least have the opportunity for the grants.

“I sure want people to have the opportunity to get this. I question whether there will be more grabbers, but maybe there are and I’d hate to keep somebody from having a chance at having $2,500 or $10,000 that would be irresponsible for us to not do that,” he said. “At the same time, I hate to put a burden on the county here without the knowledge of whether we’re going to get any more or not. It’d be easier to just say, ‘Let’s have the extension,’ especially if we have people in the queue.”

After agreeing to move forward with an extension request, the commissioners were eager to have the NEOEDD aggressively pursue any possible applicants, thus adding the 45-day limit on that group’s assistance to applicants.

“That puts some fire under us,” Dawson said.

Now that the county is pursuing an extension, NEOEDD will update the application materials and begin assisting businesses who wish to apply. For more information contact saramiller@neoedd.org.