City Announces Business Restart Grant Deadline

Applications for the $20 million business restart program from the City of Milwaukee will be accepted from May 28th through June 12th.

The funds, up to $15,000 per business, will not be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. “We are not doing that because we felt that there were problems at the federal level with the loan program,” said Mayor Tom Barrett in a Wednesday afternoon press briefing of the quickly-exhausted federal Paycheck Protection Program.

The city program, available for businesses with no more than 20 employees and up to $2 million in annual revenue, is intended to pay for costs associated with retooling businesses to best practices for health and safety as well as restocking perishable inventory.

“I want our local businesses to have a fighting chance to get back to profitability as we adapt to new public health requirements and expectations,” said Barrett.

Businesses receiving funding from the state program announced this week will still be eligible for the city program, but cannot use the funds for the same costs. “We want to make sure people are not double-dipping with these funds,” said Barrett. Businesses that have already expended funds could also be reimbursed.

The mayor said additional funds, depending on the number of applications, could come from the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant allocation.

“We are taking every reasonable step to use this money effectively and distribute this to every area of the city,” said Barrett. He said safeguards would be in place to prevent fraud, but did not detail the protections.

The funding comes from the approximately $100 million the city received as part of the federal CARES Act. The city announced a conceptual framework for the program on Friday.

Businesses can apply at Milwaukee.gov/restart. The webpage will be available once applications are being accepted.

The city has a webpage available currently listing available business resources from other entities.