Small Business Relief Fund

The City of Palm Beach Gardens implemented the Economic Recovery Act (ERA) through the adoption of Resolution 37, 2020, dated May 7, 2020. Under Phase I of the ERA, the City implement the Small Business Relief Fund (SBRF) and the Unemployed Resident Relief Fund (URRF). Subsequently, on June 4, 2020 through the adoption of Resolution 45, 2020, the City implemented Phase II of the ERA, creating the Food Services Stabilization Fund (FSSF), which provided financial support for our local food services industry due to the impact of COVID-19 emergency orders.

Phase Ill of the ERA, also developed in partnership with the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce and PGA Corridor Association, creates an aggressive program that will provide significant relief to businesses with no more than 30 employees. The revised Small Business Relief Fund is expected to provide critical financial support to approximately 30 businesses with a one-time grant payment of up to $15,000 for each qualifying applicant.

Who is eligible?

This is a City program that provides grants (not loans) in the form of up to $15,000.00 cash to each impacted and eligible business*.

Applicants must meet the below criteria:

Locally owned and independently operated (No Chains).
Physically established in the City of Palm Beach Gardens for the past 18 months.
Be operating within one or more of the defined impacted eligible industries.
Have 30 employees or fewer.
Affirm a loss of revenue due to COVID-19.
Affirm that the business has no other means of a loan and that this grant will be used for rent, utilities, and payroll to employees other than to the business owner.
No more than one application for managing member or owner, if multiple businesses are owned or controlled within Palm Beach Gardens.
Home-based businesses are not eligible for this program. Resolution 46, 2020.
The applicant business may not have received any funds from either Phase I or Phase II of the ERA grant program previously offered by the City.
Evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Business applicants must provide the following:

1. State of Florida business registration from the Florida Division of Corporation
2. Current Palm Beach Gardens Business Tax Receipt
3. Current Balance Sheet for the Business
4. Full Year 2019 Profit and Loss Statement
5. Year to date Profit and Loss Statement
6. Budget showing use of funds for the period July 1 1 thru October 31, 2020
7. Payroll Tax Receipt Form 941as filed for Q4-2019 and Q1-2020

*Defined impacted eligible industries include:

Restaurant (includes full-service, limited service, and cafe establishments)
Bar, Brewery
Retail (physical brick-and-mortar establishment selling merchandise) • Professional and Healthcare Services
Hair, beauty, and other personal services (salons, barbers, massage therapy, tattoo, spas, etc .... )
Personal care services (child, disabled, and elderly care services, funeral services, etc .... )
Laundry services (dry cleaning, laundromats, garment repairs and alterations, etc .... )
Cleaning services
Pet care services
Personal and household goods repairs & Maintenance
Fitness centers and gyms

If selected, how can the award be used?

Awards are grants, so no payback is required. However, funds are to only be used for approved/eligible uses. These grants may be considered taxable income, so please contact your financial advisor for guidance.

To receive funding through this program, each business will be required to clearly articulate a plan for utilizing city funds for an eligible use including: commercial rent or mortgage payments, utilities, payroll, retention of employees, or employee support programs.

For businesses, the award can be used for the following:

Commercial Lease payments
Commercial Mortgage payments
Employee Salary and Benefits and funding existing Payroll
Other Sales, General, and Administrative expenses (SGA) deemed critical for business operations
Utilities
New equipment needed to assist the business to transition for new social distancing practices (e.g. dividers, partitions, etc.)

Before you apply, please read the following:

Privacy Statement/Public Records Disclaimer: Florida has a broad public records law. All correspondence, information (including financial information), and/or data provided to the City of Palm Beach Gardens as part of an application for a City Economic Recovery Act (ERA) grant, regardless of the media used to provide the information may be subject to disclosure as a matter of public record. Under Florida law, email addresses such information are public records. If you do not want your email addresses and information released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity.

It is the policy of the State of Florida that all state records are open for public inspection. This policy is embodied in the Florida Constitution, together with the right of an individual to be free from unauthorized governmental intrusion into their private life, as provided in Article 1, Section 23. In recognition of these policies, the City has established this Privacy Policy. When you use our site, you are acknowledging that personal information you provide is subject to Florida’s Public Records Policy as stated in Chapter 119, Florida Statures, and Article 1, Section 24 of the state Constitution.
Please be advised that the award and payment of ANY and ALL City Economic Recovery Act (ERA) grant fund are subject to the sole and absolute discretion the City of Palm Beach Gardens without recourse to the potential grant recipient. By submitting an ERA grant application, applicant hereby waives any and all claims that applicant has or may ever have related to an ERA grant and specifically agrees to indemnify and hold the City, its employees, officer, agents, and representatives harmless from any and all claims which may be in any way related to any award, payment, and/or denial of award and/or payment of any ERA grant.

How Do I Apply?

Access the link that will go live on this page on Monday, July 13, 2020 at 8 a.m. There are limited funds that will be distributed on a first-submitted and correctly completed application basis. Deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Monday, July 20, 2020.

The City has allocated $450,000.00 for this fund and applications will be accepted until funds are exhausted.

Qualifying Questions

Please, review these questions to determine eligibility for Program Funds:
(If you answer "no" to any of the questions 1 through 8, the business is not eligible.)

1. Is the Business an independent restaurant, bar, retail, or personal services business that employed 30 people or less on February 29, 2020, that has been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 virus?

2. Is the Business located within the municipal boundaries of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida?

3. Has the Business been operating for at least 18 months in Palm Beach Gardens (as defined by the business formation date from the Florida Division of Corporations)?

4. Can the Business demonstrate working capital for operations, as required by #3 in Required Attachments?

5. Is the Business registered with the City of Palm Beach Gardens Business Tax Division?

6. Is the business either (i) in operation (ii) in limited-operation and expected to be fully operational once the state of emergency guidelines are rolled back?

7. Is business considered a Local, Independent Business, as defined by the following criteria:

Business must be registered in the State of Florida, with the majority of the business’ ownership being either held by private individuals or a privately held company (i.e., not publicly traded).
Business must make independent decisions regarding its name signage, brand, appearance, purchasing, practices, hiring, and distribution, and must be solely responsible for paying its own rent, marketing, and other business expenses without assistance from a corporate headquarters outside of Palm Beach Gardens.
Business must have no more than one franchise or outlet.

8. Does your business have 30 or fewer employees (FTE and PTE)?

9. Has the Business previously received any ERA grant funds from the City of Palm Beach Gardens?

10. Does the business have any current unpaid special assessment liens against it?