RI's $50 Million Small Business Grant Program Is Now Taking Applications

RI's $50 Million Small Business Grant Program Is Now Taking Applications

The application portal for the Restore RI small business relief grant program is now open. The $50 million program is funded by federal CARES act funding.

A link to the portal as well as required documentation and supplemental information including a FAQ document, eligibility criteria, and additional resources can be found on www.commerceri.com.

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The application is a two-part process. Part one is a pre-qualification form. After a business submits the pre-qualification form they will receive an email for part 2 of the application. Because pre-qualification forms must be reviewed, it may take up to two days to receive the follow-up email. The business application is not considered complete until they have completed both parts of the application (pre-qualification and the actual application).

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As we have previously indicated, this application process will be operated in rounds. The first round will consist of the first 1,500 applications. The second round will be announced with lead time so that businesses can gear up to apply and the program will be open on a first come first serve basis once again.

Resources for Applicants

There are a number of resources for applicants that can be found on the www.commerceri.com website.

Applicants with questions can email [email protected]

Additionally, Rhode Island Commerce, in working in partnership with organizations like SCORE, the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Rhode Island Black Business Association, the Center for Southeast Asians and others have scheduled training and technical assistance sessions for applicants.

A listing of upcoming information sessions, virtual office hours, and Facebook lives can be found by visiting www.commerceri.com or by visiting the Rhode Island Commerce Facebook page.

In addition, for those applicants that might need access to technology including printers, scanners, or computers – Rhode Island Commerce has set up socially distanced work stations at our office in Providence. Appointments for this space are required and can be made using the following link.

The Restore RI grant program is targeted towards the businesses that have been most impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Businesses will need to demonstrate at least 30% revenue loss if they are in a severely-impacted industry or at least 50% revenue loss for other eligible industries.

Businesses need to have between 1 and 20 employees with the exception of restaurants and caterers which are not subject to an employee cap.  Sole proprietors are eligible for the program as long as they have at least one employee in addition to the owner. Also, in order to be eligible for the program, the applicants must have a physical presence in Rhode Island and must be open or plan to be open within 60 days.