City Council Approves 2nd Round of Small Business & Non-Profit Grants; CARES Act Reimbursement is Completed.

At its December 15th Regular Meeting the Sammamish City Council approved a second round of its local small business and non-profit grant program. The program was put in place to aid Sammamish based small businesses and non-profits impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were a total of 83 applications, which staff reviewed against eligibility criteria established by the City Council:

• A maximum of 25 FTEs
• Physically located within Sammamish
• An active Sammamish Business License
• Been in operation in Sammamish since June 1, 2019
• Sustained a 25% or greater loss in second-quarter year-over-year revenues
• Nonprofits must be registered as a 501(c)(3) with the IRS
• Cannot be owned or partially owned by a current City of Sammamish employee or Councilmember or an immediate family member of a current City of Sammamish employee or Councilmember.

Eighty out of the 83 applications met the criteria and will be awarded grants. Out of the 80 applicants, 26 were returning applicants who received $10,000 funding from the City of Sammamish’s first round of its small business recovery grants program.

In additional news, City Manager Dave Rudat reported that the City of Sammamish has now received the reimbursement of the entire $2,898,450 in CARES Act funds from the Washington Department of Commerce. “By allocating the CARES Act funds towards Eastside Fire & Rescue’s (EF&R) COVID-19 expenses, we were able to use that budget savings to provide continued COVID-19 support to the community without the date restrictions associated with federal funds,” said Rudat. “Many cities are scrambling to spend their CARES Act allocation by the December 31st deadline. Thanks to the unanimous vote by City Council approving staff's recommendation on CARES Act funds allocation, we are in a position to use these funds to address the second wave of COVID-19’s impact on our community. This approach allows the City to continue supporting Sammamish based small businesses, non-profits, and government operations into 2021.”

Read more about how the City of Sammamish is allocating the $2.9 million in CARES Act Funds received here:

Sammamish City Council Unanimously Votes “Yes” to the City Manager’s Recommendation to Seek Reimbursement of $2.9M in CARES Act Funding;

Action Earmarks $2.9M Towards Continued COVID-19 Response into the Winter Months and 2021

Read more about the City of Sammamish’s first-round Small Business Support Grant program here:

Sammamish City Council Approves Small Business Recovery Grants