The Delaware Relief Grants portal will reopen on Jan. 19

If you didn’t apply for a Delaware Relief Grants for small businesses and nonprofits by the initial Dec. 4 deadline, note that the application portal is reopening on Jan. 19 at 10 a.m.

The relief program is presented by the State of Delaware and New Castle County using federal CARES Act funds. It’s meant for businesses that do at least 51% of their business in Delaware and meet the U.S. Small Business Administration’s definition of a small business for their industry.

The grants, the amounts of which are based on revenues, are distributed in four quarterly payments. Restaurants, bars and other disproportionately affected businesses may qualify to receive bonus payments.

Businesses and nonprofits do not have to repay the the grant, which may be used for biz expenses through December 2021, if they have experienced a decrease in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019. Businesses that increased revenue in 2020 will be required to repay the grant with interest, though it will be waived if the grant is repaid by Feb. 15.

Fully completed applications will be processed in two to three weeks. Applications that are incomplete will not be rejected, but will be processed after the other applications are processed. The Delaware Division of Small Business (DSB) will then work with applicants individually to complete the applications, which can increase process time. To ensure that your application is completed properly, there is a series of free webinars provided by the DSB, available on its relief info site, as well as its YouTube channel.

The DSB has noted that the applications of businesses and nonprofits that applied in December and have not yet received funds are continuing to be processed.

For more information about the grants, go to the delbiz.com/relief.