Your community business may qualify to apply for a grant of $5,000 - up to $50,000 from New York State! Please encourage application and share this information with your customers and business stakeholders as soon as possible. A Program flyer and QR code is provided for you to distribute in your e-newsletters, at events, gatherings, and at your association meetings. If you would like to host a webinar about this Program, please do not hesitate to let me know. We are here to support the recovery of businesses across NYS.

The New York State COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant is administered by Empire State Development (ESD) and powered by Lendistry. The $800 million program was created to provide flexible grant assistance to currently viable small businesses, micro-businesses and for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations in the State of New York who have experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On August 25, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the expanded eligibility to the program to enable more small businesses to apply for funding. Businesses with revenues up to $2.5 million, up from the previous threshold of $500,000, are eligible for grants and are now encouraged to apply. The limitation for businesses that received Federal Paycheck Protection Program loans has been increased from $100,000 to $250,000.