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King County board says small-business grant is live; pre-applications due June 1, review set for June 2
Summary
The King County Economic Opportunity Board said a new small-business grant is live on the county website, with pre-applications due June 1. The board plans to meet June 2 at 3 p.m. to review pre-applications and use a scoring rubric adapted from Iron County to evaluate applicants.
The King County Economic Opportunity Board said on May 5 that a small-business grant is now live on the county website and that pre-applications are due June 1.
The board’s chair said publicity so far has included a small newspaper mention and chamber emails, and urged members to amplify outreach so ‘‘we cast a large net’’ for applicants. The chair added that, as of the most recent update, no formal applications had been submitted but the window to apply remained open.
Why it matters: Board members said the grant is intended to help existing businesses expand operations or purchase equipment to create jobs, not to fund startups. The board discussed program mechanics, including a stated 1-to-1 match and an explicit cap referenced in the meeting discussion of about "$20,000." Pat (a board member) provided a scoring rubric adapted from Iron County that the board plans to use when reviewing applications.
How the process will work: The board agreed to meet on June 2 at 3:00 p.m. to review pre-applications; members noted that pre-applications may not include all information needed for full scoring and that the full application will provide more detail for formal evaluation. The chair said the county added a grants-and-opportunities page where the small-business grant appears as the first listing.
Board members and at least one business owner in attendance described how the program could be used for equipment purchases and small expansions, noting the program’s design encourages applicants to think through hurdles and viability. ‘‘That’s exactly what it’s designed for,’’ the chair said when asked whether equipment purchase and hiring fit the grant’s purpose.
Next steps: The board will continue outreach to the business community, accept pre-applications through June 1, and convene on June 2 to begin scoring and shortlisting applicants using the provided rubric. The board emphasized additional publicity and emails from local partners would continue over the next four weeks.
(Reporting note: Quotes and attributions in this story come from speakers identified in the meeting transcript as the chair and committee members.)
