HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio – More than 1,400 small businesses benefited from Hamilton County’s Small Business Relief Grant program, with more than two-thirds of them self-reported as minority- or women-owned businesses. 

The Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners allocated nearly $14 million in federal relief funds across three separate rounds to help small businesses struggling because of financial affects caused by COVID-19. The county made available $1.7 million for the first round, but then bumped the fund pots to $5 million and $7 million for rounds two and three, respectively.

Officials capped payments at $10,000 per round. Some businesses were eligible for two of the three rounds, so could have been paid up to $20,000 over the course of the program.

The county provided a breakdown of the numbers in all three rounds. They said no business was counted twice.

• Businesses (no duplicates): 1,406
• Minority-owned: 698 (50%)
• Women-owned: 686 (49%)
• Minority- and women-owned: 427 (30%)

“Small businesses are the heart and soul of our nation. With our partner organizations, we built a supportive and inclusive ecosystem for all small businesses, including women-owned and minority-owned businesses,” said Commission Board President Stephanie Summerow Dumas. “With every challenging situation, there’s an opportunity to level the playing field, and that’s what we’ve done”

In the past, County officials have described the grant program as an attempt to provide a lifeline to businesses that lost customers because of the pandemic but still had bills to pay. Hamilton County had similar programs for nonprofits and arts organizations as well.

“Small Businesses turn on a dime and when we were denied other relief, it was very difficult to maintain our business,” said Angela Denmark, DCR Denmark Court Reporting Agency, LLC. 

Denmark said businesses would try to “pivot,” and adjust to adapt to the changed business landscape. But “Pivots alone were not sufficient to keep us thriving. This grant was the number one reason that DCR was able to stay open for business and able to take care of some important business expenses,” she added.

When designing the initial program, the commissioners wanted to target businesses that were facing barriers accessing federal government COVID-relief funding, such as the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Hamilton County and HCDC Inc. – the county’s economic development office – saw this program to fill resource gaps. Specifically, they included sole proprietors, meaning small businesses with no employees, on the eligibility criteria.

According to a Brookings Report, 95% of Black-owned businesses are sole proprietorships or partnerships with no paid employees.

“We know many black-owned businesses were hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic but did not have the same access to COVID-relief funds,” said Commission Vice President Alicia Reece. She added that the county and its partners “went to work immediately” to “bring relief straight to the businesses that needed it the most.”

Officials adjusted the terms of eligibility after each round to make the resources more accessible and make more businesses eligible for relief. That includes adjusting the cap on gross revenue and the percentage of a business.

For the third round, the business had to be in Hamilton County and have less than $2.5 million in gross revenue/receipts annually. They also needed to provide a 15% revenue loss when comparing 2019 gross revenue to 2020 gross revenue. They also couldn't have more than 50 employees.

Several community groups helped shape and promote the program. Some of those involved included the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative. HDCC Inc. thanked the Urban League for helping to speed up the review of applications.

Some businesses, such as liquor stores, adult entertainment establishments and real estate development companies, were not eligible.

CARES Act funding was used in all three rounds of the relief program. Commissioners allocated additional funds with American Rescue Plan dollars to supplement the final round of grants.

The Small Business Relief Grant program is one of several efforts run by Hamilton County over the course of the pandemic. Many of those programs focus on the needs of individuals and families affects by the pandemic. Some have closed, but others remain active.

For more information, visit 513relief.org.