State Rep. Tony Scott, R-Monroe, and Sen. Kevin Kelly, R-21st, hailed Governor Ned Lamont’s announcement of a $5 million micro-grant program to help area businesses impacted by the floods of Aug. 18. The application process will open on Sept. 3.
Scott recently informed his constituents about the program in a Facebook post.
“I am very thankful to Gov. Lamont and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to acknowledge the severity and devastation many people and businesses in Monroe experienced on August 18th,” Scott told The Sun Tuesday. “This step of allowing small grants hopefully helps alleviate some of the immediate worries of businesses to cover damages and getting those damages fixed.”
Beth Cliff, a Democrat running against Scott in the 112th District this year, reacted to the announcement in a Facebook post.
“This is welcome news for our small businesses in our towns,” she wrote. “And there will likely be more on its way via FEMA and the bipartisan infrastructure bill which has billions of dollars set aside for this very kind of needed investment.”
“Climate change is real, friends, and it involves investing in infrastructure NOW to anticipate the extreme conditions that we know will be so much more frequent for us in the future,” Cliff said.
The establishment of the grant program was announced on Monday during state and local officials’ visit to small employers in Seymour on that were forced to close due to flood damage.
“This is an emergency, and local employers need help immediately,” Kelly said. “We are united in getting small employers all the support they need, whether it’s here in Seymour, in Monroe, or in any of the other impacted communities.”
State grants of up to $25,000 will be available for small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Fairfield County, Litchfield County, and New Haven County that have fewer than 100 employees and experienced damage from the floods, according to Kelly.
His office released details of the program below:
Grants can be used to cover various expenses to help in the recovery, including those associated with cleanup efforts, replenishing lost inventory, and replacing equipment.
The program will be administered by the WBDC, a nonprofit organization, on behalf of DECD.
On Sept. 3, the WBDC will launch an application process for businesses to seek grants. Applicants will be required to provide detailed descriptions of how their businesses were impacted and include photos, receipts, invoices, and estimates where applicable.
This state-funded grant program is separate from any potential federal funding that businesses or homeowners may be eligible to receive if the state is awarded a major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The state is working with towns, businesses, and homeowners to conduct detailed damage assessments and calculate whether the cost thresholds have been met that would enable the state to receive such a declaration, which could result in the release of federal funding to support the rebuilding and repairing of damage to eligible public and uninsured private property.
The process of conducting these assessments and then applying for this type of declaration typically takes several weeks to complete and is already underway.
Any homeowners and business owners who experienced damage to their property are strongly urged to participate in this documentation effort by either filling out an online survey hosted by the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (click here for survey) or by contacting their town’s local emergency management office to have their damages recorded.
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