Time is running out for Schuylkill County small businesses and nonprofits to apply for Schuylkill County COVID-19 Block Grant money.

“As a member of the Schuylkill County Commissioners COVID-19 Task Force, and meeting weekly with this group, we have consistently advocated strongly for the availability of county COVID-19 Block Grant dollars through the CARES Act and PA DCED, for small businesses and nonprofits,” said Robert Carl, president and CEO of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

“We were very happy that earlier this week, the county of Schuylkill released the county guidelines and application process for small businesses and nonprofits, as well as continuing their initiative for county municipalities,” Carl said.

The chamber is monitoring other PA CARES Act assistance rollouts and seeing the related funding denials or shortfalls to requests. “The Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce continues to be concerned about the apparent significant unmet and unfunded needs of small businesses and nonprofits related to the pandemic.”

An organization could still meet the grant criteria even if it didn’t close during the pandemic. However, it must have “experienced some negative effects, such as lost revenues or additional costs due to COVID-19.”

Carl said, “We are encouraging all small businesses and nonprofits to carefully review the documents released by the county of Schuylkill for qualifications and guidelines for Schuylkill County COVID-19 Block Grant application and to quickly determine if applying makes sense for their business or nonprofit.”

The application deadline is set for Sept. 2.

“The pandemic has been extremely challenging for businesses and nonprofits,” Carl said. “The justifications of applications for assistance will depend on meeting the qualification via the parameters of the CARES Act and the thorough completion of the applications as set by the county of Schuylkill. Assuming they qualify, timely action of application is extremely important for this available grant support.”

For more information, contact the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce at 570-622-1942 or rcarl@schuylkillchamber.com.