Economic CARES Act Funding Relief Announced By Governor

Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced some of the programs that will receive CARES Act funds and be administered by the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

The Missouri Development Finance Board will handle a new Small Communities Operating Capital Loan Relief Program for Missouri. It is intended to allow relief to incorporated Missouri municipalities under 25,000 in population with funding to access to working capital to address projected funding shortfalls due to COVID-19.

Loan proceeds from this program must be used to replace tax, fees, or other governmental revenues that have been lost due to COVID-19. Those loans will range from $50,000 to $300,000 and will carry 0% interest in the first year. The applications to the program are due by August 31st.

A new Nonprofit Relief and Recovery Grant will include $22 million in funding for Missouri nonprofits.

The funding is an attempt to provide relief for nonprofits that experienced lower than average donations during the pandemic. The maximum grant amount is limited to $250,000. The applicants must demonstrate incurred costs or anticipated costs between March 1st and November 15th. There will be two application cycles. The first runs between now and August 14th. It is targeted for nonprofits dealing with services related to homelessness prevention, job training, food insecurity, at-risk youth services, childcare and educational support. The second application round runs from August 19th through August 28th and targeted for those suffering from direct and second-order effects of the public health emergency.

The other financing involves a new co-working and incubator grant.

The Governor’s comments were made during his Wednesday briefing.