Northampton County launching $4M small business relief fund with chamber
The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the county to award $4 million of grants to small businesses -- those employing 100 people or fewer -- struggling with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
05/11/2021
Northampton County’s created a $4 million small business grant fund to distribute a slice of the county’s $27.6 million in federal coronavirus aid.
County council Thursday evening approved two resolutions doling out the COVID-19 relief package, creating the grant fund and offering relief to the Lehigh Valley’s top tourism and hospitality drivers.
The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the county to award $4 million of grants to small businesses -- those employing 100 people or fewer -- struggling with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
Applications will be vetted by a committee comprising a chamber employee, two county council members and an alternate, a representative from the county Department of Community and Economic Development and the county’s fiscal affairs director.
“I want to thank council for unanimously passing this very important resolution,” county Executive Lamont McClure said in a news release. “Small businesses with 100 or fewer employees are a crucial to stimulating our economy and providing jobs.”
Council also voted to dole out $1.5 million in coronavirus relief aid to the Valley’s top tourism drivers.
The administration recommended awarding funds to bi-county organizations with the hope that Lehigh County will also grant them aid.
“We thank state Sen. Lisa Boscola for making the assistance of bi-county entities and organizations a priority of CARES Act Funding,” McClure said. The CARES Act was the initial $2 trillion federal coronavirus stimulus package and stands for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security.
The awards are as follows:
$500,000 for Discover Lehigh Valley
$500,000 to ArtsQuest
$250,000 to the Lehigh-Northampton County Airport Authority
$100,000 to the Easton State Theatre
$175,000 to Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.
Before council’s vote, staff from the organizations outlined just how COVID-19 is hurting their finances.
LVEDC is seeing great demand to help the region’s business community navigate the pandemic fallout. But its funding’s taken a major hit since half of its budget comes from hotel taxes, said Jaime Whalen, LVEDC chief of staff and vice president for administration and investor relations.
Discover Lehigh Valley is anticipating a $2 million shortfall and says federal aid goes a long way to shoring that up. It will allow the tourism booster to market the region and help local businesses recover, said Alex Michaels, president and CEO.
The coronavirus immediately turned the arts and entertainment and aviation industries on their heads. And it looks like they’ll be the last industries to recover.
COVID-19′s decimated aviation worldwide, said Tom Stoudt, executive director of the airport authority.
Airport passenger traffic is down 82% nationally and 72% at Lehigh Valley International Airport.
The loss of passengers deeply effects the airport’s top revenue driver: parking, Stoudt said. The airport’s financial state is fragile as it projects a $15 million or more revenue loss, he said.
But it is hard to cut costs as an essential business that never closed its doors during the pandemic, Stoudt said. Even with aggressive cost-cutting measures, the authority is facing a $1 million shortfall this year.
Councilman John Cusick asked if the airport considered furloughing workers while the $600 federal unemployment boost is still available. More than 100 employees took part in a voluntary furlough program, Stoudt said.
Bethlehem’s ArtsQuest has lost $5 million to date and counting. It threw its $22 million budget out the window and is doing everything it can to pivot and lessen losses, said Kassie Hilgert, ArtsQuest CEO and president.
“Every single thing we do got shut off,” Hilgert told council.
The nonprofit’s kept its full-time employees on payroll via stimulus, which is about to run out. It had to layoff almost all 100 of its part-time workers, she said.
Hilgert highlighted creative ways Musikfest’s parent organization is taking the annual 10-day festival virtual while trying to support the 125 small businesses it depends on, like setting food trucks up on campus and streaming shows.
Cusick suggested adding the State Theatre to the recipients as it too faces the challenges of ArtsQuest.
McClure explained the list of recipients was created after a meeting with the Lehigh Valley’s state senators, who suggested supporting organizations with footprints in Lehigh and Northampton counties.
Cusick noted that the Freddy Awards lands the State Theatre in the same category.
A plan to give the Bethlehem-based Rising Tide Loan Fund $2.1 million for small business relief was removed from the agenda because of legal issues with it distributing grants.
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Credit: Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.. lehighvalleylive.com Updated Jul 03, 2020; Posted Jul 03, 2020
