The City of Kokomo is launching a $1 million Kokomo StrongER (Emergency Relief) Forgivable Loan Program to accelerate access to capital for small businesses disproportionately affected by revenue loss from COVID-19 and Emergency Ordinances.
“Small businesses are the essential fabric of our community, and we recognize how vital they will be to the continued success of our local economy,” said Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore. “The City’s goal for this program is to immediately help our small, local businesses that were most impacted by the need to close or to curtail their business in response to the coronavirus outbreak.”
The Kokomo StrongER (Emergency Relief) Forgivable Loan Program provides up to $5,000 in direct assistance to small businesses to sustain operating costs after the Emergency Ordinances took effect.
Eligibility requirements include, but are not limited to:
Business must be physically located within the City of Kokomo’s corporate limits
Business must prove that it was significantly impacted by the Emergency Ordinances
Business must have 20 or fewer employees
Business must have been operating for six months or more
Business may not be part of a national chain (i.e. franchises that are not headquartered in the City of Kokomo)
“No one could have predicted this pandemic reaching the magnitude that it has, and most businesses simply do not have enough cash flow to withstand keeping their doors closed for several weeks,” Moore added. “We are proud as an administration to create this great opportunity to step up and assist.”
Charlie Sparks, Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance Executive Director expressed his support of the City’s efforts, “We appreciate the City making these resources available to support small businesses in the community during these difficult times and encourage those eligible to consider pursuing this assistance in combination with the programs currently being offered by the Small Business Administration.”
Program guidelines and applications are available on the City of Kokomo’s homepage at www.cityofkokomo.org, where more Kokomo StrongER (Emergency Relief) Forgivable Loan Program information can also be found. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
