300+ Alexandria small businesses receive COVID-19 funding

More than 300 small businesses in Alexandria were funded by the Alexandria Back to Business (ALX B2B) grants program in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP) announced Thursday.

In May, Alexandria City Council committed $2.4 million from its federal CARES Act appropriations, and allocated an additional $2 million from the Alexandria Investment Fund for the local business assistance grants.

Of the 309 businesses receiving funding, 76% will receive $10,000, 17% will receive $15,000 and 7% will receive $20,000. The grant amount is based on business size. Businesses must be located and licensed in Alexandria, have been operating since March 1, 2019, be for-profit and have between two and 100 W2 employees. Applicants had to demonstrate a revenue loss of 25% or more due to COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to businesses across the Washington, D.C., region … We’re proud to report that this round of the Alexandria Back to Business program will deliver approximately $3.5 million in relief to Alexandria’s small businesses, spread across seven zip codes, composed of business leaders from a myriad of racial and ethnic backgrounds,” AEDP President and CEO Stephanie Landrum said in a statement. “Alexandria’s business community continues to demonstrate resilience in the face of adversity, and AEDP is proud to support our community during the road to recovery.”

The program was created to serve all qualifying businesses in Alexandria and was marketed in English, Spanish, Arabic and Amharic. Of the businesses that applied and were granted funding, 38% self-reported their race and ethnicity as Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American or Asian American; 9% reported being registered as a small, woman-owned and minority (SWaM) business; and 8% reported that they serve on active duty in either the U.S. Armed Forces, Reserves or National Guard.

AEDP is in the process of notifying awardees, which will be posted to the organization’s website after notifications are made. The city of Alexandria is working with AEDP to create more rounds of funding with the remaining $900,000 it holds from the initial funding of the grant program.

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