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Community Foundation, South of 6 and partners outline ARPA grant program for underestimated small businesses
Summary
Community Foundation staff and partners described an ARPA-funded grant program that will award $3,500–$20,000 to Johnson County businesses disproportionately impacted by COVID or located in HUD-qualified census tracts, with three application rounds, outreach sessions and an inclusive selection committee.
Shelly Meheri, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Johnson County, and partners presented details of an ARPA-funded grant program to support 'underestimated' small businesses during the board's Dec. 18 work session.
Meheri said the Community Foundation was selected to administer ARPA funds for the program and highlighted Maurice Davis of South of 6 as the lead contact. "Since being selected to administer the funding, our teams have been working collaboratively to develop a grant making program as outlined in the application," Meheri said.
Ellie Moore explained program design and eligibility. "The grants will be between $3,500 and $20,000 ..." she said, and added the first application round will open Jan. 1 and close Jan. 30, with three total rounds planned. Moore described two types of awards: operational support and storefront improvement grants, and said eligibility requires a physical business location in Johnson County plus a disproportionate COVID impact or presence in a HUD-qualified census tract.
Moore also described ownership and documentation requirements: recipients must show at least 50% ownership by a person identifying as Black, Indigenous or a person of color; a woman; a person with a disability as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act; or someone with minority status. The program will accept a signed attestation form to reduce documentation barriers.
Outreach plans include weekly drop-in sessions, scheduled one-on-one appointments and partnerships with trusted community organizations to assist applicants with language or technology barriers. Maurice Davis described the selection committee criteria: members will be professionals or leaders with ties to the targeted communities or lived experience.
Evan Doyle said the program will collect pre-, during- and post-grant data to evaluate outreach effectiveness, applicant demographics and post-award outcomes. Supervisors asked about the geographic distribution of eligible census tracts (staff said most are in the metro area) and sought clarification on applicant business entity types; presenters noted technical-assistance opportunities and the availability of application question lists for board review.
No formal board action was taken; staff said items related to ARPA administration will come back as needed for county approvals.
