Gwinnett awards $7 million in grants to small businesses

Commissioner Ben Ku attends a board meeting at Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (Natrice Miller / natrice.miller@ajc.com)

Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com

Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com

Commissioner Ben Ku attends a board meeting at Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (Natrice Miller / natrice.miller@ajc.com)

Gwinnett County recently announced that it has awarded more than $7.1 million in grant funds to 1,075 small businesses that were negatively affected during the pandemic.

Grants were awarded through the Gwinnett Small Business Grant Program, which was created to help small business owners who experienced income loss or increased costs throughout the pandemic, a county press release said.

“Small businesses played a pivotal role during the pandemic by providing essential products, goods, and services to residents,” Planning and Development Director Matt Dickison said in the statement.

“We are grateful Gwinnett County was able to repay the favor in kind, by providing critical funding to small business owners who needed it most.”

Each business received between $3,000 to $15,000 based on factors such as the number of employees, gross revenue and total COVID-19 impact on the applicant, the release said.

The program was federally funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and the Community Development Block Grant, it added.