Business assistance grant drawings to occur July 27

The three random drawings for the next round of Fredericksburg business assistance grants will be held Monday, July 27.

The City of Fredericksburg received $2,533,279 from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. Funds can be used to cover costs including “expenses associated with the provision of economic support in connection with the COVID-19 public health emergency … such as expenditures related to the provision of grants to small businesses to reimburse the costs of business interruption caused by required closures.”

Fredericksburg City Council on Tuesday allocated $250,000 of the CARES Act funds to the grant program, which will be run through the Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority. Council allocated another $42,000 of the funds to Fredericksburg VA Main Street Inc. for a downtown grant program, and another $208,000 for a small-business marketing program that will be rolled out in the coming months.

About 105 businesses applied for the citywide grants. The three random drawings will be held as follows:

• Businesses with annual gross revenue of less than $100,000 — 10 grants of $2,500 each
• Businesses with annual gross revenue between $100,000 and $350,000 — 15 grants of $5,000 each
• Businesses with annual gross revenue of more than $350,000, but not more than $2.5 million — 20 grants of $7,500 each

The drawing will be available via Facebook Live on the Fredericksburg Economic Development and Tourism page at 2 p.m. Monday, July 27.