Tulare County has instituted its own Covid-19 Business Assistance Grant Program.

The small business grant will provide $7.5 million to local small businesses to implement Covid-19-related health and safety measures. The funding comes from the federal CARES Act.

Eligible businesses include nonprofits and for-profits with 20 full-time employees or less as well as independent contractors. Applicants must attest to a loss of net revenue due to the pandemic. Expenses incurred between March 19 and Sept. 30 eligible to be covered include rent, utilities and supplies such as masks and disinfectant.

The grant amounts will be capped at $5,000.

A business would also have had to be in existence prior to the declaration of the Covid-19 emergency by Gov. Newsom on March 19.

The program will be administered by the Workforce Investment Board (WIB). Applications will likely be made available on Aug. 1 until Aug. 15. If there is an oversubscription for the program, a lottery will be used.

“I know that there is an excitement out there amongst the community of businesses that feel like they’ve slipped through the cracks, and that’s why we are trying to make this a simple process, try to be catch-all for those who have not yet been helped,” said Pete Vander Poel, chairman of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.

Interested applicants are encouraged to visit www.tularewib.org to sign up for notifications regarding this program.