Pulaski County has been awarded a $250,000 grant by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs for the Community Development Commission to make grants to qualifying small businesses in Pulaski County to assist in their recovery from the economic impacts of the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic (and to cover grant-administration costs). Pulaski County has $243,750 available to award to qualifying local businesses. Further information about OCRA’s COVID-19 program can be found here.
Applications are due by 4:00 p.m. E.T. on Tuesday, 25 May 2021, to the Community Development Commission. They may be
- submitted via email to nporiger@pulaskionline.org;
- delivered to the office at 623 West Eleventh Street, Winamac (State Road 14 West: the west side of the Winamac Municipal Utilities Complex); or
- mailed to P.O. Box 315, Winamac, Indiana 46996.
Applications received after this time will be considered if all other approved requests total less than the available funds. Grant amount will be awarded based on demonstrated need; amounts less than requested may be awarded based on demonstrated need, scoring criteria, and availability of funding. This program has limited funding, therefore not all grant requests may be approved. Pursuant to OCRA guidelines, grants are capped at a maximum amount of $10,000. Businesses that received funding from the County’s program in the fall of 2020 are eligible to apply, but may receive reduced or no funding pursuant to program guidelines (below) and depending on the number of applicants. The Town of Winamac has also received a grant from OCRA to offer a business-relief grant program, open only to businesses within the corporate limits of Winamac. Businesses operating within Winamac may apply to both programs, but will only be funded by one or the other, unless the two organizations are able to split funding to a business in an amount not to exceed the maximum allowable total.
Because this program is funded by a State grant made with federal Community Development Block Grant moneys, there is an income-eligibility component to the program. The preliminary, local grant-approval determination will be made with minimal attention paid to this criterion, but a final determination made by the grant administrator may require the denial of some locally approved grants in order for the program to meet federal income-eligibility requirements in the aggregate.
A completed application, any accompanying documentation, and a completed income-eligibility form must be provided at the time of submission.