New River Valley Small Business Grant

UPDATE: Applications will be accepted through Friday, Feb. 5th at the end of business. The Application Review Committee will then proceed through the necessary follow up and processing procedures. If there are additional funds, a second grant round will be announced and opened. 

New River Valley- Small businesses in the New River Valley have access to up to $15,000 for small business grants to combat the impacts of the COVID19 pandemic. The Counties of Floyd, Giles, Pulaski, and Montgomery have jointly established a regional $1.6 million grant fund, known as the New River Valley Small Business Resiliency Grant to support the region’s small business recovery and resiliency efforts following the COVID19 outbreak. Funds for these grants has been provided by Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development as part of a Community Development Block Grant award to assist localities mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the regional economy. Due to this funding source, they are unable to offer grants to businesses based in the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, as well as the City of Radford.

Grants of up to $15,000 are being provided to eligible businesses within the region to offset business impacts. This grant program will be administered by Giles County, on behalf of its neighboring communities, under the oversight of a regional Application Review Committee and Project Management Team.

Eligible expenses include: rent or mortgage payments (up to 6 months’ worth, between March 12, 2020 and application date), expenses paid that were directly related to COVID-19, from March 12, 2020 through application date, equipment purchased since March 12, 2020 to maintain business to help business maintain social/physical distancing, PPE Expenses for employees or customers, purchased since March 12, 2020 and used in place of business to sustain business operations, technology or subscriptions to assist navigating the ongoing public health situation, cleaning or maintenance supplies or services.

Eligible businesses are those that have their principal place of business is located in one of the following: Floyd County and town within, Giles County and towns within, Montgomery County except for Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Pulaski County and towns within. The business is locally or regionally owned and must be located in the New River Valley. They have 20 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees (40 hours/week) at the application date. The business was operational by March 12, 2020 and is realizing a direct negative impact from COVID-19 (e.g. revenue loss, reduced sales, closure or suspended operation, employment decline, or business interruption). They have eligible expenses not already covered by other CARES funding or any other support funding source (e.g. PPP, local COVID-related grants, Rebuild Virginia grants, etc.), and they must be current on all fees, permits and taxes as of March 1, 2020

The application is available online at gilescounty.org and hard copies are available at the County and Town Administration buildings throughout our region. Interested businesses are encouraged to reach out to their local Tourism Office to discuss eligibility and answer any questions. Applications are being accepted now and will be reviewed with funds disbursed on a rolling basis.

Giles County contact > tourism@gilescounty.org (email is the fastest way to get a response) 

Access Information Sheet > NRV Small Business Grants Information Sheet

Access Application HERE

You can listen to more about the NRV Small Business Grant from the AM Hodge Podge show on January 30, 2021.