The Soldotna City Council will discuss approving over $2.5 million from the Kenai Peninsula Borough to help fund Phase II of the Soldotna CARES small business relief program. The meeting will be held tonight at 6:00 p.m., both in-person and via the Zoom online platform.
If approved, Emergency Ordinance 2020-023 would direct additional funds to business that have continued to experience financial hardship due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The ordinance aims to offer priority to applicants whose businesses have experienced a decrease in total sales in 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. The ordinance also aims to offer grants to very small businesses, those with total gross sales between $15,000 and $25,000, who were excluded from Phase I of the CARES program because they did not meet the minimum sales threshold.
The Soldotna CARES program began in July, aiming to mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency on the city’s businesses. During the development of the program’s budget in July, City Manager Stephanie Queen felt strongly that supporting Soldona’s economic strength was the right move: “I am happy with the approach we’ve presented. It puts roughly two-thirds of our funding back directly into the community rather than into projects that the city would undertake for our own expenses. I think that’s a really good approach for the City of Soldotna, our business owners, and residents.”
Shanon Davis, Executive Director of the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, told KSRM that there are also resources from the Kenai Peninsula Borough available to businesses outside of the Soldotna City limits, but that the window to apply is closing: “The borough is still in the middle of its second round of CARES Act relief funding program, but the deadline for that this Friday, September 25. So, if you’re a business owner who is outside of the incorporated cities, make sure that you log on to CARES.kpb.us. It’s not a long, complicated application, and they’re really wanting to get money in the hands of people who need it, who’ve been impacted by this pandemic.”
The budget for Phase II of the program would allot $2.5 million for business grants, $50,000 for staff assisting in the processing of grants, $10,000 for marketing the program, and a little over $4,000 in other expenses.
The council will also discuss Resolution 2020-045, which would expand the CARES program across many areas beyond that of small businesses.
Although City Hall is open to the public, interested persons are encouraged to attend the meeting remotely via Zoom. Alternatively, folks can join join via telephone at (877) 853-5257 or (888) 475-4499. The Webinar ID to use in either method is: 845 1108 3895.