Maryland launches $4 million Purple Line small‑business grant; Montgomery County extends $900,000 aid

The Maryland Department of Transportation on Feb. 10 announced a $4,000,000 Small Business Assistance Grant program to help businesses affected by construction on the Purple Line, state and county officials said at a joint meeting of Montgomery County’s Transportation and Environment Committee and Economic Development Committee in Rockville.

The grant program will run four years with $1 million available each year, with individual awards of up to $50,000 and eligibility for businesses within one quarter‑mile of the Purple Line alignment, Jacqueline Hartman, assistant secretary of transportation investments for the Maryland Department of Transportation, told the committees. "We are launching a $4,000,000, small business assistance grant program," Hartman said.

The grants are intended to cover operating support and other expenses tied to construction impacts, Hartman said, and award decisions will weigh both heavy construction impacts in the prior three months and a three‑month lookahead to target businesses most affected at any given time. Eligibility criteria announced at the meeting include firms with up to 50 employees, average gross sales up to $2,000,000, or businesses eligible under the state small business enterprise program. Applications open immediately and will be accepted for approximately six…