City of Medina Announces Small Business Assistance Grant Program

Barbara Dzur
City of Medina

The City of Medina Economic Development Department is pleased to announce that the application is now available for the Small Business Assistance Grant. The City of Medina has set aside $200,000 of American Rescue Plan funds to assist City of Medina small businesses with workforce challenges due to COVID-19.  Of this money, $50,000 has been set aside to assist micro-businesses. The grant must be used by successful applicants to address issues with hiring, rehiring, and retaining employees. The Program will be administered by the City of Medina Economic Development Department and the Economic Development Committee.

A small business is defined as that which has no more than 50 fulltime equivalent employees.  A micro-business has 10 or fewer employees, one of whom owns the business. All applicants must be located in the City of Medina.

Applicants must have experienced negative impacts due to the pandemic, must be registered with the Ohio Secretary of State, and registered with the Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA). In addition, applicants must have active liability insurance, and be current on all property taxes and city fees.

Program funds can be used for the following expenses related to the hiring, rehiring and retaining of employees, as long as the expenses do not violate State or Federal law. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Transportation (e.g. – gas cards, uber rides, bus passes, car repair)
• Childcare (e.g. – daycare, overnight childcare, etc.)
• Training (e.g. – customer service training, English as a second language, etc.)
• Payroll (e.g. – increase wages, shift premiums)
• Benefits (e.g. – healthcare; sick leave; employee bonuses)

The Program Guidelines and the on-line fillable Application can be found on the City website, www.medinaoh.org, in the Economic Development section.  Completed application and required documentation must be submitted by August 8, 2022 at 4:00pm. Final selection of grant recipients will be made from all eligible application by the City of Medina Economic Development Committee.