Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, announced a new grant program specifically targeted to small businesses struggling from the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

The ‘Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant’ program will provide a limited number of grants of up to $10,000 for businesses with 10 or fewer employees.

If you’d like to learn more – or apply for the grant – please follow this link:

http://startup.choosewashingtonstate.com/covid-grants/

Process

    • Small businesses that qualify for the grant program will submit applications through their local county/regional economic development organizations.
    • Emails for submitting completed applications to these economic development organizations are listed to the right.
    • County/regional economic development organizations will prioritize applications based on the severity of the impact the business is facing due to COVID-19, including from being forced to close by the government-mandated closures, social distancing measures or illness.
    • Recommended awards will be sent to the Department of Commerce for review and vetting.
    • Qualifying applications will be forwarded to the Governor for review and signature.
    • Your local ADO will administer approved awards to the successful company.
    • Awards will be approved on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on the availability of funds. The objective is to support businesses through the crisis and enable them to retain as many employees as possible.

Eligibility

    • Applicants should have been in business for at least one year.
    • Businesses with up to 10 full-time employees (FTEs) may apply for a one-time grant of up to $10,000.
    • Funding is not meant to help launch a business, but to support existing businesses who are specifically affected by the COVID-19 crisis and are vital members of their local community.
    • Applicants are eligible to receive one Working Washington Grant award during the current budget cycle, which ends on 06/30/2021.

Grant Awards

    • County/regional economic development organizations will be asked to verify the size of candidate companies prior to submission.
    • For each award, local economic/development organizations are encouraged to be judicious in discerning an appropriate and proportional amount based on necessity to the business and the business’ importance to the local community so as to ensure that this emergency resource can be utilized by companies across communities in Washington.

Application Workflow

  1. Fill out application.
  2. Email it to your county ADO (listed on right)
  3. ADO reviews application.
  4. Commerce vets recommended applications.
  5. Governor approves and signs awards.
  6. Funds are sent to ADO for disbersement to successful applicant.

Send completed application to:

Application Process

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and applicants will be accepted or denied on a rolling basis. Please contact your county/regional economic development organization to assess your company’s viability and to complete an application.

Commerce will not review applications directly submitted to Commerce staff. Applications must be submitted through the local ADO.

Due to anticipated volumes, please allow 4 to 6 weeks for processing and disbursement of grants.

Approved grant expenditures:

    • Grant funds can used for operational expenses including rent, supplies/inventory, utility bills, etc. as well as consulting, marketing, and training.
    • Applications must include a list of proposed expenses grants will be spent on.  Applications without a list of proposed expenses will be considered incomplete. This reimbursement-based grant can assist with outstanding invoices dated March 1 and beyond.

Note that payroll cannot be reimbursed via Working Washington grant program. Please direct all payroll needs to Employment Security Department.

The following expenses are not eligible: capitalized equipment, travel, office equipment, and computer software.

Apply

  1. To apply, download the application via the link below.
  2. Complete as much of the information as you can.
  3. Email the completed form to the appropriate economic development organization in your county (links on the right).

If you have a question about the grant program, please use the corresponding email for your county to submit it.

Download the Application