Fairfax County board ponders $30M COVID-19 relief program

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider launching a small business and nonprofit relief grant program that could disperse up to $30 million to local businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed guidelines would allocate $10,000 to businesses with one to 10 employees, $15,000 to businesses with 11 to 25 employees and $20,000 to businesses with 26 to 49 employees. The board will have to make a decision on Tuesday about the program in order to implement it by June 1.

The relief program would be funded by a portion of the $200 million in federal stimulus funding the county received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, according to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors May 12 agenda. In an April 29 letter to the Board of Supervisors, County Executive Bryan J. Hill suggested that the CARES Act funding would be used to cover health department expenses, personal protective equipment costs and funding for nonprofits.

But board members at their May 12 meeting will consider disbursing a portion of the stimulus funds as grants to local small businesses and nonprofit organizations. The program could offer anywhere between $10 million and $30 million, based on what officials decide.

On April 14, the Board of Supervisors approved the Fairfax County Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Microloan Fund (Microloan Program) to help small businesses negatively affected by COVID-19-required closures, and on May 5, the board announced it had allocated $2.5 million in funding for the microloan fund.  However, it wasn’t enough to keep up with demand. 

In fact, according to the board’s agenda item that will be debated Tuesday, based on the original Microloan Program demand, it’s anticipated that the new grant program will still have a surplus of applications and awards will need to be randomly allocated.

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