Morris County Small Enterprise Grant goes to Alstede farm enterprise in Chester Twp. – New Jersey Hills

The county program, launched with $10 million on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, is designed to assist small native companies nonetheless being impacted by the pandemic. Those that nonetheless want to apply for a grant, nonetheless, have solely till Friday, Sept. 30 to take action. 

“This grant may be very useful. It’s been over two years since (the pandemic begin) and folks neglect, we have been sweating bullets attempting to determine each week what we might do,” stated Kurt Alstede, noting farming operations all through New Jersey have been hit with strict working pointers by the Division of Agriculture and Division of Environmental Safety.

Farmers needed to cooperate for months underneath restrictions that ranged from requiring farm staff to put on protecting masks, even whereas working within the fields, to distancing pointers that required farmers to search out different housing preparations for workers who stay on web site.

“It definitely have to be famous that the Alstede household did every thing to maintain their folks working and retained their workers all through the peak of the pandemic and afterwards,” stated Krickus as he visited the property.

Up to now, the Commissioners have permitted 677 functions for the $15,000 grants, all filed by small companies and nonprofit organizations. The Commissioners devoted $10 million and designed the grants to help small companies and nonprofits with pandemic associated bills incurred after March 3, 2021, together with hire and mortgages funds.

The Morris County Small Enterprise Grant Program has been a novel use of federal funds issued to the county by means of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was designed to supply pandemic-related help.

Federal pointers protecting the grant program decide precisely which bills qualify for protection and which functions could also be permitted. Whereas the grants are capped at $15,000 per applicant, enterprise homeowners and nonprofits are inspired to submit functions that embody all prices they consider might qualify for the grant, even when a declare exceeds $15,000.

A ultimate assessment might decide that some prices submitted for consideration usually are not lined underneath this system pointers. Nonetheless, by submitting all bills that will qualify, candidates enhance the potential for getting the utmost quantity of grant {dollars} potential.