Travis County has identified the first round of small businesses to which it will offer aid from federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding. County commissioners voted at a Sept. 8 meeting to approve 225 businesses to receive funding through the county’s $9 million Small Business Grant Program established in May.
“I know there was a lot of unhappiness, particularly from some elected officials in western Travis County that we weren’t getting the funds out to them quickly enough, but I think it’s important to note that we have gotten the funds to small businesses in their communities,” Commissioner Brigid Shea said at the meeting, referencing Travis County’s distribution of the federal funding to the county’s small cities.
According to Christy Moffett, the managing director of economic and strategic planning for the county, Travis County received 1,543 inquiries from businesses about the grant program. Some of those businesses were located in the city of Austin and were redirected to apply for the city’s grant program because Travis County’s program is reserved for businesses in the county’s small cities and unincorporated areas.
A consulting organization, Business & Community Lenders of Texas, was hired to help administer the application process and the program.
