DE PERE, Wis.— A Wisconsin agency is making $5,000 grants available to thousands of small businesses across the state.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is using $50 million of federal assistance money to offer grants to 10,000 applicants. It’s the second time grants have been offered through the “We’re All In” program.
“A lot of businesses are saying, ‘$3,000-$5,000 — while it doesn’t seem like a lot — is going to help us pay rent, it’s going to help us buy additional PPE,’” said Missy Hughes, WEDC’s chief executive officer of CEO. “It will … provide some help for these businesses to survive the winter months.”
The program includes businesses started before Jan. 1 with 50 or fewer full-time employees and up to $1 million in annual revenues. A full list of guidelines can be found here.
The window for applications opens Oct. 19 and runs through Nov. 2. Businesses in harder hit sectors, like tourism and hospitality, will be at the top of the list when grants are awarded. Applications will be available through the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
State, local and federal agencies have all be involved in offering various loans and grants over the past seven months — all to help Main Street businesses survive the massive economic disruption of coronavirus.
Josh Steger, owner of buds ’n bloom Design Studio in De Pere, used a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan to keep his 11-employees working through the early part of the year when the bottom fell out of weddings, events and the overall economy.
“That was able to keep us all working in the building,” he said. “Not that we would have necessarily closed or gone out of business or anything, but in terms of my employees actually having jobs… that keep things rolling for re-tooling around here and doing a lot of things differently.”
Business at buds ’n bloom stabilized over the summer. It’s also found new opportunities.
“We’re doing a lot more residential and commercial custom work for people than wedding and event type things,” Steger said. “We still have them going on, they are kind of coming back, but they’re smaller.”
Like the rest of the state’s businesses, Hughes is facing a mix of business and public health in her role that she never imagined she’d experience. She says both an intertwined — even when talking about grants.
“If you don’t feel well, stay home, wear a mask. All of those things that we’ve come to know and love,” she said. “Our small businesses in Wisconsin are really depending on us and our individual actions to help them survive this.”
