Small businesses will get help needed to stay afloat

Up to $420 million will be awarded to Wisconsin small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, through the new Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recovery Grant program, a collaboration between the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the Department of Revenue (DOR).

The effort, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), has the potential to help approximately 84,000 Wisconsin small businesses, that have an annual gross revenue between $10,000 and $7 million. Under the program, small businesses would be eligible for grant awards of $5,000.

“The new grants are intended to support those small businesses who were hardest hit by the pandemic and through savvy planning, grit and sacrifice, are poised to make a strong recovery,” said WEDC secretar/CEO Missy Hughes, “and we are committed to being a strong partner in helping these businesses on the road to recovery.”

Details of the new grants will not be finalized until federal rules for ARPA funds are in place. States continue to await federal guidance before they are able to provide complete program details or open applications.

However, preliminary plans by the WEDC and DOR, call for targeting the program at Wisconsin small businesses, including those that started in 2020, in sectors that have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

Individuals and businesses interested in learning more about the Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recovery Grant program, can visitrevenue.wi.gov.