PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners have inked an agreement with the Clallam County Economic Development Council to distribute federal COVID-19 relief funds to small businesses and nonprofits.
Commissioners Randy Johnson and Bill Peach voted Tuesday — with Commissioner Mark Ozias excused — to approve a subrecipient agreement with the EDC to administer the disbursement of nearly $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
The full board vetted the agreement with EDC Executive Director Colleen McAleer on Monday.
“This subrecipient agreement is targeted at local businesses,” Mark Lane, Clallam County chief financial officer, said during that meeting.
The ECD is set to launch its “Lifeboat3” program for small businesses and nonprofits at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Grant applications will be accepted though Nov. 14.
For eligibility and other information about the program, visit www.chooseclallamfirst.com.
The EDC will receive $300,000 to administer the program, $230,000 of which will come from the county’s Opportunity Fund.
“We’ll be able to earmark $2.93 million of assistance getting directly to businesses and nonprofits in comparison to only $2.7 million being made available if we had the full administrative cost funded out of the ARPA funds,” Lane said.
The EDC helped the county distribute federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding through a similar subrecipient agreement in 2020.
“We have a lot of businesses that didn’t receive any funding the first time around,” McAleer told commissioners Monday.
Applications will be scored by a nine-member committee composed of the Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks chambers of commerce, the cities of Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks, United Way of Clallam County, the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Dr. Lynn Keenan representing child care providers countywide.
“We know what businesses have already received funding, and so we’ll have a points system where we try to target certain areas and certain types of businesses, but it will all be based on points,” McAleer said.
“It’s not an exact science, certainly.
“But we try to incorporate some level of objectivity beforehand so it’s not picking favorites, and that was really important for us going into this,” McAleer added.
Clallam County was awarded $15.02 million in ARPA funds in May, half of which has been received. The U.S. Treasury is expected to disperse the other $7.5 million to Clallam County next May, according to an executive summary.
In June, county commissioners identified eight focus areas for the allocation of ARPA funds.
They are:
• Local small business and nonprofit economic assistance.
• Assistance to businesses and nonprofits that provide child care.
• Mental/behavioral health.
• Food security to support local food banks.
• Affordable housing/homelessness support.
• Residential and commercial utility relief.
• Local water systems infrastructure.
• Broadband.
Ozias credited McAleer and Lane for establishing the grant program for small businesses and nonprofits.
Most of the grant awards will be in the $5,000 to $20,000 range.
“The ability to take an allocation and to turn it around into a fair and robust process, and to do that so quickly, is absolutely remarkable,” Ozias said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
