How small Dayton businesses can apply for up to $10K for COVID-19 safety expenses

The city of Dayton is offering grants up to $10,000 to help small businesses pay for coronavirus pandemic expenses related to facility improvements needed to meet health and safety standards.

The Dayton COVID-19 Small Business Capital Grants Program will help businesses pay to alter or install new spaces to allow for social distancing. Grant proposals can be for facility improvements that include permanent or temporary seating areas inside or outdoors, as well as for required furnishings and fixtures, according to the city.

Eligible businesses must be located within the Dayton city limits and must not be part of national chain. Street-level retailers, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, salons and barbers are among small businesses encouraged to consider applying for the program to distribute part of the city’s federal CARES Act funding, according to a Dayton news release.

The application period begins today and continues through Sept. 11. The total funding pool is $200,000.

Other sources have provided small businesses with operating expenses during the pandemic, but those funds were generally limited to costs such as rent and payroll, which are not qualifying expenses under the Dayton grant program, according to the city.

For more information, including application instructions, go to daytonohio.gov/smallbusinesscares, or email Susan Vincent at susan.vincent@daytonohio.gov.

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