McKee announces Washington Bridge Small Business Grant Program
by GABRIELLE CARACCIOLO, NBC 10 NEWS
(WJAR) — Help is on its way to small businesses hit hard by the commuter crisis.
The state is giving out $2.6 million in grants to impacted small businesses.
East Providence will distribute $1.2 million, Providence will get $800,000, and the other $600,000 will go to businesses located in other parts of the state.
Unlike the Small Business Association loans, this relief is coming in the form of grants that don’t have to be paid back.
The grants will be distributed in three tiers of $500, $1000, and $2,500.
“We wanted to make sure we could impact the most businesses possible, and when you looked at the number of businesses registered in Providence, in East Providence, we felt that that that came to a fair number to be able to spread the wealth for them,” Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner said.
Businesses have to prove they’ve experienced a at least a 10% revenue loss from Dec. 2023 through Feb. 2024 compared to that same time period last year.
The full list of qualifications can be found on the website to apply.
When applications open at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Steven Costa, owner of Rosa’s Tavern in East Providence, said he’ll be ready to go.
“Its been a struggle. This year we noticed a really, really big difference,” he said. “It’s a good sign that we’re starting to get some relief. It’s not a loan we have to pay back. Any money helps, its not gonna get me back to where i need to be but it does help a little bit to pay off the debt that we’ve acquired with the loss of revenue.”
Applications will stay open for two weeks.
How long it will take for businesses to get the money after that is still up in the air.
It will depend, in part, on how many businesses apply.