Business
Too Important To Fail Cobb County Commission and SelectCobb distribute relief grants to local businesses. By Cory Sekine-Pettite
O
n March 27, 2020, the President signed the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act to expand unemployment insurance benefits and other economic relief measures aimed at reducing the economic impact of the novel coronavirus 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic and authorized $2.1 trillion in aid to various sectors of the economy. This economic relief package is in addition to the Family First Corona Virus Response Act. Congress continues to debate expanding federal aid for families and small businesses as the virus continues to wreak havoc across the country. In the meantime, under the current available funding, what this means for Cobb County is $50 million in relief funds available to business owners to help get them back on their feet.
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In May, Cobb County Government announced a partnership with SelectCobb to distribute the funding. SelectCobb, formerly known as Cobb’s Competitive EDGE, is an initiative of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and its community-wide partners to market Cobb County to the world, thus generating high-wage job growth, new private investment, and a pipeline of top talent. The SelectCobb Small Business Relief Grants provide up to $40,000 grants for small businesses based in Cobb County to use on personnel, rent, utilities, and acquiring PPE to ensure the safety of their employees. The grants are tiered, based on the number of employees: business with one to 10 employees can receive up to $20,000; firms with 11 to 50 employees, up to $30,000; and companies with 51 to 100 employees, up to $40,000.
