New grant available for small businesses hit by Richmond water crisis
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Small businesses across Central Virginia are seeing a new wave of financial relief following months of struggle caused by January's water crisis.
"It wasn't just a one-week thing -- it's been several months for a lot of us,” said Samuel Veney, the owner of Richmond restaurant Philly Vegan.
Veney said his business lost between $15,000 and $20,000 during the water crisis.
On Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the U.S. Small Business Administration is making Economic Injury Disaster Loans available for businesses still grappling with those kinds of financial setbacks.
"That is good, that they're looking into this and trying to figure out how they can help," Veney said. "The water crisis has been the slowest year we've had so far.”
The announcement comes the same week that the city of Richmond decided which businesses will receive money from its Small Business Recovery Grant. Veney applied to Richmond’s grant program seeking $5,000 to help cover the costs. Instead, he received just $2,500.
“We can do a little bit, it’s not much," Veney said. "$2,500 is just recouping what we paid our staff out of our own pocket for that week. It doesn't take care of the losses that we had on the business side."
Veney told 8News that he and other business owners he spoke to agree that, while Richmond's grant was helpful, it's not enough. However, with the introduction of the new loans, some hope is returning to businesses that continue to face lingering economic damage.
The Economic Injury Disaster Loans are provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration and are not limited to Richmond-based small businesses.
It's targeted towards small local businesses, agricultural cooperatives and private, non-profit organizations in Richmond and any of the following counties: Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King William, Louisa, New Kent, Powhatan and Spotsylvania.
Business owners can submit their applications for disaster loans on the MySBA Loan Portal.
