Hartford to Offer Third Emergency Grant Program to Help Small Businesses

There’s a new round of relief coming to struggling businesses in Hartford.

The city is rolling out a third round of emergency grants for small businesses owners.
Nearly $1 million in grants of up to $7,500 each will be available for businesses to use for anything from purchasing inventory to hiring new workers.

“While it may not be a lot of money, it's enough in most instances to at least hold somebody over for the next two or three months,” says Cal Vinal, President and CEO of Capital For Change.

The grants are courtesy of a partnership between the city, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and Capital for Change.

“We have testimony from some businesses that this was critical to them and they were able to keep people employed for a couple more months and then maybe things get a little bit better,” said Vinal.

The money’s come in handy for businesses like Devar’s - Phillips florist on Sisson avenue.

“We lost all our corporate orders, we lost all our wedding orders. We lost all our Christmas parties and all of that. They’re very helpful in sustaining, paying rent utilities, those things that needed to be maintained while we were not functioning," said longtime shop owner William Cusano.

The flower shop received a grant in the previous round. The owner said despite getting the grant and PPP money, it’s still been a struggle. Today, business is still down by a third from pre-pandemic revenue.

“Some businesses have really thrived with COVID and others not so much. I feel like ours has been certainly challenged,” said Cusano.

The grant application period opens Wednesday, August 4.

This is the third round of the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program and city officials said more than 70% of grants in the first two rounds went to minority or women-owned small businesses in Hartford.

Eligibility and How to Apply

Grants of up to $7,500 will be available to businesses as funds allow. 

Eligible businesses must:

• be located within the City of Hartford
• be able to provide at least one federal tax return
• have positive annual revenues not exceeding $500,000 for the submitted tax years
• have an EIN and/or DUNS number, if applicable.  Other eligibility requirements will be available in the grant application. 

Principal owners of multiple businesses will only be eligible for one grant. The mayor’s office said small businesses that received grants in either of the first two rounds will be eligible for this third round of funding.

An application will be accessible on the Capital for Change website, www.capitalforchange.org/starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 4 and will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

 An application will be accessible on the Capital for Change website, www.capitalforchange.org/starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 4 and will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

Help Available for Submissions

Interested businesses are encouraged to reach out to the following technical assistance providers for help with their submission. These providers can ensure that businesses are eligible and ready to submit once the application portal opens:

• Blue Hills Civic Association, Vickie Gallon-Clark, (860) 560-7360, clarkv@bluehillscivic.org
• Upper Albany Main Street, Marilyn Risi, (860) 768-5747, risi@hartford.edu
• Upper Albany Merchants Association, Fay Santouse, (860) 532-9574, bandlcleaningservices@gmail.com
• Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA), Julio Mendoza, (860) 278-5825, julio_mendoza@samact.org
• Entrepreneurial Center, University of Hartford, Sheri McMillen, (860) 768-5652, mcmillen@hartford.edu
• Upper Albany Main Street, Marilyn Risi, (860) 768-5747, risi@hartford.edu
• Upper Albany Merchants Association, Fay Santouse, (860) 532-9574, bandlcleaningservices@gmail.com
• Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA), Julio Mendoza, (860) 278-5825, julio_mendoza@samact.org
• Entrepreneurial Center, University of Hartford, Sheri McMillen, (860) 768-5652, mcmillen@hartford.edu