Charlotte to help small businesses with money from CARES Act

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Relief is coming to small businesses in Charlotte.

The city received money from the CARES Act and Tuesday night, council members approved some of it to go to businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Channel 9′s Scott Wickersham spoke to Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt about who qualifies for that money.

“We were given 154 million and we have chosen to use it for a couple of things for housing relief, mortgage relief and some more innovative housing and city operations that are COVID-related," Eiselt said. "And then also for small business recovery. And of that, we’re dividing it into two pieces -- what we’re calling divide and thrive. And the first part is really a grant program, which is 30 million dollars that businesses can apply for. We’re focusing on businesses of 25 or less that probably didn’t have access to the PPP program.”

Eiselt said those grants would be anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000. The grants will be part of a larger effort to help businesses adapt to the changing times.

“We’re also trying to provide support for businesses so they can learn how to pivot, how to go online and build their online presence -- that kind of thing. So there will be more to it,” Eiselt said. “We will allocate another 15 million to recovery, but we really wanted to get the grant program first, that we can get the applications up early next month so people can apply.”

Eiselt said they’re hoping to open the application process in early June.

Even if a business has since reopened, it can and should still apply.

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