Washington County Is Trying To Assist As Many Businesses As They Can

Washington County commissioners have agreed to re-opening the process to allow more businesses that qualify, to submit applications for CARES Act Coronorvirus relief funds. Not all grants that could be awarded from $3 million in funds, were.

The county is also pushing the effort to smaller towns and areas within the county to help get grant money to those communities, like Gaston, Durham, and King City.

To be eligible, a business MUST meet the following requirements:

Be physically located in:
Washington County outside a city; OR
Durham, Gaston, or King City; OR
The Washington County portion of Wilsonville
Have been impacted by COVID-19 by:
Closure because of the “Stay Home. Save Lives.” Executive Order; OR
Loss of 30% or more revenue in any one month when compared to the same month the year prior
Have been in operation since March 1, 2019
Have 25 full-time equivalent employees or fewer over the last year
Be a for-profit business
Be compliant with all federal, state and local regulations and taxes
Be registered with the state or be exempt from registration requirements

Eligible businesses MUST NOT

Be a passive real estate holding company or other entity holding a passive investment in a small business with no operational ties to the business
Be an adult-orient business (meaning businesses that emphasize sexually oriented products or services, for example a strip club or adult bookstore)
Get a majority of income from gambling activities
Have more than $5 million in gross revenue in 2019
Be a franchise that is not individually owned (meaning owned by a person or entity who operates more than one location)
Applications will be accepted August 31 through September 4 at 5 p.m. The grant application will be linked on the County’s Business Recovery page beginning August 31 at 8 a.m. To award the grants, the county will use a scoring system focused on addressing the county’s goal to provide assistance to those businesses impacted the most by COVID-19 closures and regulations, as well as businesses who have historically faced systemic disadvantages in gaining access to business assistance programs. However, all businesses that meet minimum qualifications are invited to apply. Business owners who operate more than one business will only be eligible to receive a grant for one of their businesses.