Northampton Emergency Small Business Grant Program
The City of Northampton and Valley Community Development are proud to announce the Northampton Emergency Small Business Grant Program.
The purpose of these grants is to provide funds to low and moderate income businesses to assist them in remaining open, as well as stimulating and pivoting their businesses during this time of COVID-19 and in the future.
If you require reasonable accommodation or translation services to complete this application, please direct your inquiry to grants@valleycdc.com or if email is not available to you, then please direct your call to Julia Zegarra, 413-586-5855 ext. 170. Leave a message.
Currently the City of Northampton is waiting on more details from HUD via CARES regarding this funding from the federal government. Once this is finalized and Valley Community Development approves a business for a grant, the City will handle the execution of the grant agreement with the business and checks from the City will be distributed within approximately two (2) weeks after full execution of grant agreement.
Please be advised:
Due to rapidly clarifying governmental regulations, this information may change. Please check back frequently and refresh your page so that you have the latest updates. We are hurrying to get everything together for this. Once we have all the information, there will be a link for the application here.
If you want to get a jump on things, you can use this template to complete your 2019 profit and loss statement which will be needed when you submit your application.
Note – Your net income level from your 2019 Profit and Loss Statement, does not qualify you or disqualify you from applying for the grant. The income qualifications for the grant are based on your PROJECTED INCOME FOR 2020 starting with the date of your application.
Your complete application along with required attachments can only be submitted electronically through Valley Community Development’s website link to the application. If you need assistance accessing the application via the website please contact grants@valleycdc.com, although this may slow your application process.
You can view a sample application here.
Application
Please review the eligibility restrictions carefully, as these funds are limited and our process will become overburdened if non-eligible small businesses apply.
Note that the funds are available on a first come, first eligible, first complete application basis, subject to availability of funding.
A complete application for applicants to view will be available here on Monday April 13th.
The application process will open on Wednesday, April 15th at 9:00 am. Applications are not ready yet, but will be available through a website link on this site and also through these other websites
City of Northampton
Northampton Chamber of Commerce
Downtown Northampton Association
Before that date, we suggest you review the eligibility requirements and prepare to submit a Profit and Loss Statement for 2019. Review the Frequently Asked Questions, so you will be able to submit your application as close as possible to the submission date.
Thank you for your interest and please be patient with this process. Please like our Facebook page and sign up for our email newsletter to keep updated.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
This grant has specific eligibility requirements.
The business must be located in the City of Northampton.
The business must have been operating for at least one year, as of March 1, 2020.
The business must employ 10 or fewer people including the owner, part-time and full-time employees on the business payroll at the time of the application.
The business must be a for-profit business operating within the City of Northampton. Non-profit entities are not eligible.
Businesses must submit a Profit and Loss Statement for 2019 and clearly explain their ability to pivot their business.
The business owner(s)’s household must be low/moderate income or at least 51% of their employees must be employed in low/moderate income positions. Total household income is to be calculated/projected for the coming 12 months effective the date of application
Maximum household income levels by household size:
1 Person – $49,700
2 Person – $56,800
3 Person – $63,900
4 Person – $70,950
5 Person – $76,650
6 Person – $82,350
7 Person – $88,000
8 Person – $93,700
ALLOWABLE USES OF GRANT FUNDING
Because the purpose of the grant is to assist businesses in remaining open, as well as stimulating and changing their businesses during this time of COVID-19, these are the allowable uses:
Machinery
Inventory
Materials or Supplies
Equipment
Services
Please see the Frequently Asked Questions for specific examples of these.
NON-ALLOWABLE USES (not exhaustive)
Working capital
Rent/mortgage
Utilities
Salaries
Vehicle purchase/lease
Paying tax liens
Paying outstanding debt
Construction
FUNDING DETAILS
Applications to be accepted and reviewed on a first come, first eligible, first completed basis, subject to availability of funding
Total amount the City of Northampton is expected to release is approximately $125,000 for this program
Maximum grant amount under $10,000
Minimum grant amount is $2,500
City expects to distribute between 20-25 grants with an average grant of $5,000
The grant will require repayment only if the terms of grant agreement are not met. Terms of the grant include documentation of the product or service that was purchased with the funds and usage of the grant within a specific amount of time, less than two months from the time of acceptance.
Once Valley approves the business, the City will handle grant agreement, dispersal of funds and follow up with businesses
