Here are the businesses that got funding from the first round of Pinellas CARES

Pinellas County has issued $16.105 million in grants to small businesses under the initial Pinellas CARES Small Business Grants program.

As of  Aug. 13, 5,223 completed applications were received for the program and 3,221 checks for $5,000 each had been issued, according to an update from Pinellas County.

The grants for businesses were funded through the $170 million that Pinellas County has received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. That federal measure was intended to help with the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis.

The application period for the first round of the Pinellas CARES Small Business Grants ended on June 30. Between May 4 and July 1, the county issued $12.925 million to 2,585 eligible businesses with approved applications. 

Here’s a map showing every business that received funding by July 1. Click on the + button in the bottom left corner to zoom in on an area of the map and click on a blue marker to see the name and address of the business and the date it received funding.

The first round of the small business grants program focused on assisting small businesses with a physical location and fewer than 25 employees.

A second round of the program will be open to a wider range of businesses with annual gross revenue up to $3 million, those that may not have a commercial location and others that did not qualify for the initial CARES Small Business Grants. The primary focus of the program will be to assist businesses that were required to shut down or whose customers were required to shut down or stop doing business, the county said. Details about how to apply will be shared as soon as operations are established to start accepting and processing applications. The county said it would provide updates here.

Pinellas County began making $34 million in CARES act funding available to nonprofits and child care facilities impacted by Covid-19 earlier this month.

The county partnered with the Pinellas Community Foundation to distribute $29.7 million to nonprofit organization that provide community services in the areas of food, homelessness, behavioral health, and legal aid for housing. Eligible nonprofits can apply at www.pinellascf.org/CARES

Separately, the county and the Early Learning Coalition of Pinellas County are providing $4.6 million to licensed child care organizations whose business was negatively impacted due to Covid-19. The Pinellas CARES Child Care Provider Grant offers one-time grants of up to $10,000 to cover expenses such as employee wages, vendor bills, rent, and health and safety investments. The Early Learning Coalition will contact all eligible providers directly via email with application instructions, a news release said. Eligible providers that do not receive an email or need assistance applying can contact the ELC at 727-400-4436 or ceckrem@elcpinellas.org

There’s a separate Pinellas CARES program for individuals and families, who can apply for up to $5,000 per household to pay for overdue rent, mortgage or utility payments since March 1. The application process has been simplified to make it easier to get help, the county said. Details for the individual and family program are here.