Grants Still Available for the Utah Commercial Real Estate Assistance Program

May 22, 2020

On May 11, 2020, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) began accepting applications for the Utah Commercial Real Estate Assistance Program, to provide rental relief to small businesses that have lost revenue as a result of COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The program, with $40 million in funds, has received 2,700 applications to date, totaling just over $10 million in expenditures. GOED issued a press release encouraging small business owners to apply while there are still ample funds available.

 “This is an exceptional effort on the part of the Utah Legislature, Governor and GOED to help small businesses who have had to shoulder the costs of rent in the midst of the COVID-19 economic shutdown,” said Kelvyn Cullimore, president and CEO of BioUtah. “The funds are there. The application is not complicated. Companies just need to apply.”

Over 80% of the grants so far have gone to businesses with PPP loans. The grant amount is capped at $5000 if the applicant has received a PPP loan. Therefore, the actual grant amounts have been smaller leaving more money in the fund.

Businesses with fewer than 100 employees qualify, regardless of whether you’ve received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. Besides the $5,000 cap for those who have received a PPP loan, the total cap on any grant is  $10,000. GOED began disbursing checks May 15 to grant recipients. The application process will remain open until all grant funds are expended.