Placer Board of Supervisors approve $5 million in additional grant funding

In an effort to provide continued support to businesses and safety net programs impacted by COVID-19, the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved an additional $5 million of grant funding. According to Placer County Assistant Chief Executive Officer Jane Christenson, Placer County received the remainder of the anticipated $41.1 million in CARES Act funding. During the Oct. 6 meeting, the board requested staff look at potential future funding for small business and nonprofit needs as impacts brought on by the pandemic continue into winter. "The needs are, frankly, bottomless," Christenson said during the board meeting Tuesday. "... The challenge is the need keeps changing. The first round of Placer Shares was really just to hope people bridge to a better day. This many months in, it's helping people survive." Said District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, "If we go to a different tier and businesses are shut down again, the needs could change dramatically as well so trying to sustain those operations with 25 percent occupancy again or potential closures would be devastating going into the winter." Impacts brought on by the pandemic, Christenson said, include 89,500 jobs lost from August 2019 to August 2020, food drives tripling due to the current need, a decline of $21.7 million in nonprofit funding regionally, a 30 percent increase in suicide hotline call volume and a 20 percent increase in the demand for counseling. Christenson said the additional $5 million in funding would assist in addressing the effects of operation disruption due to COVID-19. This level of funding could allow business grants up to $50,000, and prior grant recipients may be able to apply. Additionally, anyone that received Paycheck Protection Program or other funding would not be excluded. "At this point, we're looking to help the businesses that are still out there and hanging on and hoping to continue to thrive during this period," Christenson said. The additional funds, Christenson said, would also assist with funding the 286 applications submitted for the Placer Shares program extension, which ended Oct. 23. A new grant program will be established to distribute the additional funding. According to a county news release, grant funds for nonprofits will be aimed at safety net programs providing services for food insecurity, rental assistance and mental health. Funds for businesses will be directed to saving jobs and preserving community anchors. According to Christenson, the grant process could potentially be reopened with the assistance of third-party administrator Sierra Business Council, in mid-November, with decisions made around Thanksgiving so money would be distributed before the end of the year.