HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 6August 31, 2020 Item No.
SMALL BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM UPDATE
Proposed Action
Staff recommends adoption of the following motion: Move to fully fund the City of Lakeville’s Small
Business Emergency Grant program to accommodate all eligible requests received by the deadline that are
not being funded through the Dakota County program with a not-to-exceed amount of $100,000.
Further, staff recommends that $300,000 of CARES money be allocated towards a second grant round
with new eligibility requirements as recommended by the EDC. Staff will bring a request for formal
approval at the 9/8/2020 City Council Meeting
Overview
City staff discussed the status of the Small Emergency Grant Program at the August 24th City Council
Work Session and the August 25th Economic Development Commission Meeting. The City Council
previously approved utilization of $484,694 of Federal CARES Act funding. The City received a total of
78 applications during the two-week application period that ended on August 7th. Of the 78 applications,
it was determined that 19 of the applications did not meet the program guidelines and 2 businesses
withdrew their applications.
Dakota County received a total of 177 applications from Lakeville businesses for their Small Business
Grant program of which 168 were determined to meet their program guidelines. The City has approved
grants for 25 businesses that applied to the County. The County has indicated that it is considering
funding all of the requests that were received (that have not been funded by the City or DEED) and may
not be doing a lottery. The Dakota County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to discuss further steps
on their small business grant program at their 9/1/2020 meeting.
The State of MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) received 175
applications from Lakeville businesses and selected 109 of these businesses in their lottery process. There
appear to be 29 Lakeville businesses that were not selected in the DEED lottery, did not apply to the City
or County, and are deemed preliminarily eligible under DEED guidelines.
Primary Issues to Consider
The EDC reviewed the current City of Lakeville Grant Guidelines at their 8/25/2020 Meeting and
recommended providing a second grant round that uses the same program guidelines as Dakota County
and DEED’s grant programs. This would include the following changes if an additional round of grant
funding is approved:
• Remove the $1 million annual revenue limitation for businesses
• Increase the maximum number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees to 50
and remove the requirement to have at least one FTE employee
• Remove the restriction on the receipt of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(PUA) by business owners
Lakeville has 19 businesses that were deemed ineligible for our grant program, but nine of them would
likely qualify under the new guidelines. Some of these businesses also applied to Dakota County or DEED
for grants, however two non-duplicate businesses remain on Lakeville’s ineligible list that would likely
qualify under a second grant round using Dakota County/DEED grant guidelines.
Financial Impact: $ Budgeted: Y☐ N☒ Source:
Related Documents: (CIP, ERP, etc.):
Envision Lakeville Community Values: Diversified Economic Development
Report Completed by: David L. Olson, Community & Economic Development Director
400,000 CARES Act Funds