Village of Oswego officials are hoping that a growing number of government grants and programs will help the village "plug holes" resulting from the coronavirus crisis.
Village Economic Development Director Corinna Cole recently helmed a meeting in which she updated board members on all that’s being done to help small business owners to stay afloat going forward. Cole pointed to such programs as the Downtown Marketing Grant, which is set to award $3,000 to the Oswego Downtown Association as part of a campaign to keep downtown businesses on the minds and in the hearts of residents across the village during the ongoing stay-at-home mandated shutdown.
Once everything has been cleared to be back up and running, another $3,000 is slated to be awarded to further promote awareness of downtown area businesses. Cole said all the funds will come from the downtown Tax Increment Financing district Economic Incentive Award Fund (EIAF).
Shuttered small businesses can also apply for up to $5,000 to help cover the cost of rent payments through the Rent Assistance Loan Program, which has a $50,000 budget.
Finally, the Restart Loan Program is offering loans of up to $5,000 to businesses that have been either forced to close or limit services over the course of the pandemic. The funds are set to come from the village’s revolving loan fund and the low-interest loans are designed to help fund purchasing inventory, early payroll costs and other business expenses.
Cole is also pushing such measures as a loan repayment holiday for existing borrowers from the revolving loan fund and the transfer of the remaining balance of the EIAF to the revolving loan fund.
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