Photo courtesy of Howard County Government.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball will announce the recipients of the first round of HoCo RISE Business Relief Grants on Wednesday, July 15, at 11 a.m. at Savage Mill.

Howard County allocated $5.7 million towards the grant program to provide financial assistance to businesses in targeted sectors that have been most impacted by COVID-19 and plan to reopen.

The business grants include: 

·       Storefront Retail Assistance Program, providing $2.7 million to locally-owned, small retailers, and service merchants in commercial space who have been forced to close because of the Governor’s non-essential business order.  

·       An Agriculture Assistance Program, providing $800,000 in total grant assistance to support local, full or part-time farms affected by the decreased demand by local restaurants as well as a drastic decline in commodity prices.  

·       A Restaurant Assistance Program, providing $2.0 million to locally-owned restaurants for support for accommodations required to re-open outdoor or indoor service and customer access.