Tigard Commercial Assistance & Relief for Economic Stability

Application window is currently closed

To date, over $3.4 million in financial aid has been awarded.

Tigard CARES - Recovery Ready Grant Program 

City Council allocated an initial $100,000 in American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support Tigard businesses. Recovery Ready Grants are intended to help businesses in critical need of funding who have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 public health crisis. Given the immediate availability of ARPA funds, the City, in coordination with Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO), is collecting grant applications, reviewing eligibility, and making awards as soon as April 4, 2022. Please review the information below before you start your online application.

Award Amounts

Grant awards range from $1,000 to $5,000 and are granted based on documented negative COVID-19 impacts and business need.

Business Eligibility

Small businesses grants must be used to respond to negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency. According to federal rules, grants cannot be used to cover negative impacts from longer-term economic trends unrelated to the pandemic. A business owner must be able to relate their grant request to a negative impact from COVID-19. Examples of negative COVID-19 impacts include:

• Expense incurred for COVID-19 mitigation measures (like PPE) or cost associated with adopting safer COVID-19 operating practices.
• Increased operating costs due to COVID-19.
• Retention of employees during State-mandated COVID-19 closures.
• Decreased revenue due to State-mandated COVID-19 closures.

Federal guidelines identify the Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality sectors as suffering disproportional negative COVID-19 Impacts. Business in these sectors will be prioritized for grant funding. Firms in business sectors with commensurate negative impact will also be considered. As required by ARPA rules, the City of Tigard will publicly report financial assistance provided to businesses and the related negative economic impacts.

Funding Priorities

As in previous rounds of grant making, the City of Tigard may not have sufficient funds to make grant awards to every applicant. The City will use this application process to assess business needs, and determine whether more grant funding should be made available for business support grants. The following information will help determine funding priorities:

• Business where the owner is the primary earner for their household.
• Businesses size.
• Percentage of revenue lost during COVID-19.
• Percentage of operating cost increase due to COVID-19.
• Increase of debt to finance business operations during COVID-19.
• Decrease of personal savings to finance business operations during COVID-19.
• Businesses located in a Qualified Census Tract.
• Travel, Tourism & Hospitality sector businesses.

Timing

• Week of March 28^th - first round of grant applications will be reviewed. Applications will continue to be accepted after this date.
• Week of April 4^th - Awardees will be notified, and grant awards will start being distributed by our partner MESO.

Depending on assessed need, the City may increase funding for a second round of grant awards to businesses that have not already received funding.

If you have questions about the application or need assistance completing a form, please email tigard0322@mesopdx.org.