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River City EDC raises small-business boost grant threshold to $150,000 and changes eligibility wording
Summary
The River City Economic Development Corporation voted to raise the small-business boost grant revenue threshold to $150,000 and to change application language from "gross annual revenue" to "gross profit," remove physical-location as a fixed requirement and allow staff follow-up on incomplete applications.
River City’s economic development board voted Wednesday to raise the maximum revenue threshold for its Small Business Boost Grant from $100,000 to $150,000 and to change the program’s eligibility language from "gross annual revenue" to "gross profit." The board also agreed to stop requiring a physical storefront as a strict condition and directed staff to follow up with applicants who pick up applications but do not submit them.
Board attention focused on several denied applicants who exceeded the original $100,000 threshold. "We're recommending that we increase the gross annual revenue threshold from a 100,000 to a 150,000," said Melinda Gomez, EDC staff, during the discussion. Gomez also described staff findings that some applicants who took applications left after learning they did not qualify, and she recommended additional follow-up to collect reasons for non-submission.
The change also replaces the term "annual sales" with "gross profit" in eligibility language after board members noted that retail businesses can report high sales but low profits. "I think by changing the wording from gross revenues to gross profit, I think it's gonna open it up to more people," a board member said during discussion.
Board members discussed other operational adjustments that staff will implement: removing the physical-location requirement for home-based businesses while retaining the requirement that businesses have reportable sales-tax activity where applicable; tracking applicants who do not return completed applications and making process tweaks based on patterns (for example, distinguishing mortgage vs. rent in eligibility questions); and clarifying how to document payroll or employer filings for different business types.
The motion to adopt the changes — increase the threshold to $150,000, change wording to gross profit, and remove the strict physical-location requirement while directing staff to follow up with non‑submitting applicants — passed by voice vote. The board directed staff to implement the changes, publish an updated application, and monitor results for several months to inform any future changes.
The board did not adopt an automatic conversion of the threshold to a different amount beyond $150,000; members said they may revisit the ceiling after additional data collection and follow-up with applicants.
The vote was recorded as an affirmative voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes.
