400 Businesses Will Split $4 Million For COVID-19 Readiness
City grant program only allocates 20 percent of expected budget. Designed to retool businesses to adapt to COVID-19 dangers.
Milwaukee’s Restart grant program, intended to provide businesses with up to $15,000 grants to implement COVID-19 safety improvements, will award more than 400 businesses approximately $4 million in total.
“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 Mayor Tom Barrett in a statement announcing the awards.
To qualify for the program businesses needed to have 20 or fewer employees and less than $2 million in annual gross revenue.
Approximately 40 percent of the applicants identified themselves as minority-owned. More than 40 percent of the applicants said the business was owned by a woman.
The Department of City Development is partnering with the Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation to distribute the grants.
The city provided a map of the winning businesses, but not a list of names. A press release teases some of them including “a peddle tavern” and a “cheese head manufacturer.” The only firms of such kind in the city are the Milwaukee Pedal Tavern and Foamation, both located in Walker’s Point.
Barrett was scheduled to be joined in a virtual press conference by Johanna Ortiz, owner and operator of Johanna’s Cakes & Desserts Cafe. Barrett previously joined Ortiz at her grand opening ceremony on October 14th.
The city had originally budgeted to spend up to $20 million of its more than $100 million federal CARES Act allocation to support the program.
The program was announced on May 15th.
“It’s going to really prepare businesses to get going,” said Natanael Martinez of DCD‘s Commercial Corridor Team when the program was announced. “Some examples we have already seen is a lot of grocery stores have been using plexiglass.”
Martinez said the funding could go towards new electronic payment systems and personal protective equipment.
Funding was not allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, but instead after all applications were collected.
Awardees can be found in each of the 15 aldermanic districts, but are clustered in the city’s densest neighborhoods, Downtown, the Historic Third Ward, Walker’s Point, the Lower East Side and Riverwest.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Governors Tony Evers, JB Pritzker, Tim Walz, and Gretchen Whitmer Issue a Joint Statement Concerning Reports that Donald Trump Gave Russian Dictator Putin American COVID-19 Supplies - Gov. Tony Evers - Oct 11th, 2024
- MHD Release: Milwaukee Health Department Launches COVID-19 Wastewater Testing Dashboard - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Jan 23rd, 2024
- Milwaukee County Announces New Policies Related to COVID-19 Pandemic - County Executive David Crowley - May 9th, 2023
- DHS Details End of Emergency COVID-19 Response - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Apr 26th, 2023
- Milwaukee Health Department Announces Upcoming Changes to COVID-19 Services - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Mar 17th, 2023
- Fitzgerald Applauds Passage of COVID-19 Origin Act - U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald - Mar 10th, 2023
- DHS Expands Free COVID-19 Testing Program - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Feb 10th, 2023
- MKE County: COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rising - Graham Kilmer - Jan 16th, 2023
- Not Enough Getting Bivalent Booster Shots, State Health Officials Warn - Gaby Vinick - Dec 26th, 2022
- Nearly All Wisconsinites Age 6 Months and Older Now Eligible for Updated COVID-19 Vaccine - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Dec 15th, 2022
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
Eyes on Milwaukee
-
Church, Cupid Partner On Affordable Housing
Dec 4th, 2023 by Jeramey Jannene -
Downtown Building Sells For Nearly Twice Its Assessed Value
Nov 12th, 2023 by Jeramey Jannene -
Immigration Office Moving To 310W Building
Oct 25th, 2023 by Jeramey Jannene