This came in from Kristine Augustine of the Scranton Chamber of Commerce regarding the COVID-19 Relief PA Statewide Small Business Assistance grants. We wanted to share the information!
Round 1 of the COVID-19 Relief PA Statewide Small Business Assistance grants is complete. Grantees will start receiving approvals in the coming days. Several pieces of information will need to be verified with the grantees prior to disbursement of funds.
If a business HAS been approved for a grant, they will receive an e-mail from Lendistry (the technology provider) indicating that they have been approved.
If a business has NOT been approved, they will automatically move to ROUND 2. They do not need to reapply or do anything further. Communications will be sent from Lendistry to applicants with this information.
The final list of businesses approved for funding will be released by DCED. This will not occur until all information has been verified with the grantees and funding has been disbursed. We do not have a final date as to which this will occur. We will not see this final list until it is publicly released.
We will undoubtably receive calls/e-mails from those that are NOT selected. What I can tell you is that the approval/selection process was very, very fair. Each application that was submitted was reviewed blindly (no identifying information). The applications were reviewed using the criteria established and consistent with the identified priority areas. Careful consideration was taken so that the amount of grants dispersed in each county was equitable. It is important to understand that there is a limited amount of funds allocated for this grant program and not every applicant will receive funding.
Round 2 has been delayed until August 10th (previously August 3rd). The application portal will be open for a longer period of time than round 1. Additional details, as they are released, will be announced in coming days.
Thank you for all of your assistance with this program, it is greatly appreciated.
