HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 1/3/2023 - Memorandum From Katherine Geiger Re: 2022 Small Business Recovery Grant
MEMORANDUM
DATE: December 23, 2022
TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager
SeonAh Kendall, Economic Health Director
Shannon Hein, Economic Manager – Small Business
FROM: Katherine Geiger, Business Connector
RE: 2022 Small Business Recovery Grant
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide Fort Collins City Council with an update on the Economic Health Office’s
Small Business Recovery Grants that were open in two rounds – round one: August 1 to August 30, 2022; and round two:
October 3 to November 15, 2022.
BACKGROUND:
The ARPA funded Small Business Recovery Grants for Fort Collins-owned businesses was separated into three
categories: Stabilization, Technical Assistance, and Workforce Talent and Retention. Basic eligibility criteria included
having gross revenue under $500,000 annually for round one and $1 million annually for round two, having less than
fifty employees, and operating in the City of Fort Collins. The max amount that could be received was $10,000 combined
across all categories.
• Stabilization (funding up to $7,500)
• Technical Assistance (funding up to $5,000)
• Workforce Talent and Retention (funding up to $2,500)
Round 1: Open August 1 through August 30, 2022. The City received one hundred eighty-six applications, including four
Spanish applications. Fifty-nine businesses were awarded a total of $402,500. Award recipients were a variety of
business types including food service, business consulting, mental health services, construction, and artists.
Fifty applicants were ineligible, most commonly due to being over the revenue cap or being outside of city limits.
Example of Round 1 Awards:
• $5,000 towards buying a laser printer, enabling a local artist to cut out supply chain issues that allows the artist
to manufacture their own stickers and accessories.
• $5,000 towards hiring an expert to update a business’s website to create a better customer experience and
improve their marketing strategies.
• $10,000 to an entrepreneur who created a ‘widget’ and is wanting to diversify their revenue stream from
hospital gift shops to a broader ecommerce site. They received $2,500 for social media marketing courses,
$5,000 to hire a firm that specializes in increasing ecommerce, and $2,500 towards stabilization.
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Round 2: Open October 3 through November 15, 2022. The City received one hundred seventy-four applications, and
one hundred businesses were awarded a total of $418,000. Fifty-one businesses who had not received funds in round
one reapplied and thirty-three of them received an award. There were a variety of businesses awarded including metal
and woodworking, mental health and wellness services, non-profits, artists, and software manufacturers.
Thirty-six applicants were ineligible, most commonly due to being outside of city limits.
Example of Round 2 Awards:
• $5,000 towards relaunching a mentorship program to increase female representation in the clean energy sector
by matching young women with workplace opportunities.
• $7,500 to an entrepreneur towards purchasing a specialized manufacturing tool and receiving professional
training, enabling a local artist to create better products and avoid supply chain issues.
• $1,000 to a business to assist them in obtaining a license that will allow them to create an apprenticeship
program for masonry.
Noteworthy Highlights:
Round 1: Multiple workshops were held to assist businesses in understanding the application process, eligibility, and
give them a platform to ask questions. A presentation was given to the NoCo LatinX Chamber of Commerce and the
Economic Health team went door to door with informational postcards in Old Town, Mulberry Corridor and South Fort
Collins. A robust social media campaign was also utilized for outreach.
Round 2: For applicants that were not awarded in round one, the Economic Health Office encouraged businesses to
utilize the Multicultural Business & Entrepreneur Center business connectors to help improve their applications. The
business connectors saw over forty appointments which led to twenty-six applications being submitted and twenty of
these businesses were awarded.
Economic Health has received many words of gratitude to the City of Fort Collins for their continued support as it has
been made clear businesses are still struggling to recover due to continued supply chain issues, increased customer
acquisition costs, and workforce challenges.
CC: JO CECH, FISCAL RECOVERY MANAGER
Blaine Dunn, Director Accounting
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