On Friday, June 19, 2020, Governor Scott signed into law Act 115, “An act relating to creating emergency economic recovery grants.” Act 115 (formerly S.350) includes $70 million for Emergency Economic Recovery Grants. These funds have been made available to the State of Vermont through the federal Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) CFDA # 21.019. The Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) and the Vermont Department of Taxes will work together to administer these funds.
On Thursday, July 2, 2020, Governor Scott signed into law H.966, which includes an additional $96 million for a number of business sectors and will be administered by both ACCD and other agencies including the Agency of Human Services, Agency of Administration, and Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
ACCD will be administering Economic Recovery Grants, along with the Department of Taxes and other state agencies that received funding from the Vermont Legislature for certain business types and ownership structures. See the section below on “Where and How Do I Apply?” for additional information for specific business sectors.
What are the eligibility criteria for the Economic Recovery Grants administered by ACCD?
An eligible business will be a nonpublic, private organization that:
- Is domiciled or has its primary place of business in Vermont
- Has one or more non-owner employees in Vermont, with the exception that Women- and Minority-Owned businesses with zero employees are eligible for grants through ACCD.
- Was open and active before February 15, 2020
- Is open at the time of application, or is required to have closed due to COVID-19 restrictions but can certify to its intention to re-open when the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted
- Is not a business or organization, nor a subsidiary of a business or organization, nor owned by a business or organization, that reported more than $20,000,000 in total revenue
- Has experienced a 50% or greater drop in total revenue in any one-month period from March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020, when compared with the same month in 2019
- Is not currently in Chapter 7 bankruptcy
- Is in good standing with the Vermont Department of Taxes
- Is in good standing with the Vermont Secretary of State
- Has not received a Vermont Emergency Economic Recovery Grant from another State of Vermont Agency or Department