Crook County offers business assistance grants

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) – Crook County has formed a local COVID-19 Business Assistance Task Force to help local companies deal with the Coronavirus economic impacts affecting daily business operations. Technical assistance with federal resources, local grant dollars, and regional assistance are available through the collaboration effort.

The Task Force is comprised of the following organizations:

State Representative Vikki Breese Iverson, Office

Crook County (Commission and Health Department)

City of Prineville

Prineville-Crook County Chamber of Commerce

Prineville Economic Development (EDCO Prineville/Crook County)

Prineville Downtown Association

Prineville Facebook Data Center

Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC)

The grant application will be released by the Crook County Task Force Tuesday morning, and grants will be available up to the amount of $2,500. The Task Force will be offering technical assistance in filling out paperwork for the Federal SBA programs that are available as well.

The Task Force is committed to helping the entire Crook County business community continue to thrive in spite of the COVID-19 epidemic. The committee understands that Coronavirus and the corresponding mandatory closure or change in service requirements could jeopardize many local small businesses. 

In an effort to ensure doors are able to reopen, the community has created an emergency grant program, offering funding to help cover the cost of fixed operations costs for our most vulnerable businesses. 

“Beyond the real dollars to help companies with the operational fixed costs, the technical assistance of having someone help you through the federal grants is a huge piece of what we are trying to accomplish,” said Kim Daniels, Prineville-Crook County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.

GRANT FUND DETAILS

• Funding for eligible operational costs (i.e. Rent, Mortgage, Utilities, etc.) incurred between April 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020
• Maximum grant amount is $2,500 per company with like ownership
• Grants will be distributed by the Prineville-Crook County Chamber of Commerce after approval from the COVID-19 Economic Impact Task Force

BASIC CRITERIA FOR ACCESSING THE APPLICATION FOR GRANT ASSISTANCE OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

•            Business has a physical presence in Crook County and can show direct impact by the government-mandated shut down due to Coronavirus.

•            Business has 35 or less FTE (full-time equivalent employees) in Crook County.

•            Business can provide information to support operational expenses.

•            Exclusions; national and regional chains with no local ownership. Local franchise owners can apply.

•            There is a scoring matrix that will ultimately determine if a company qualifies for the grant dollars.

Crook County COVID-19 Business Assistance Grant Application

Crook County COVID-19 Business Assistance Grant Application (Español)

For additional information, please contact the Prineville-Crook County Chamber of Commerce Grant Assistance. Call Kim Daniels at (510) 519-7754, Kelsey Lucas at (541) 213-3169, or email grants@prinevillechamber.com. For the most current information and available resources, please visit the Chamber’s website at https://prinevillechamber.com/ or https://centraloregonsos.com/.