Small business relief top priority for city, county

2020 In the News

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Both Nodaway County and Maryville city officials plan to work together to coordinate additional financial relief and possible funding for new projects focusing on local small businesses through the American Rescue Plan.

Included in the $1.9 trillion Rescue Plan was more than $50 billion in additional funding for existing business grant and loan programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program and the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan Advance program, and for new programs like the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which quickly ran out of its $28.6 billion allocation after more than $69 billion was requested by applicants.

According to public data reported by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Nodaway County Treasurer’s office, since April 2020, businesses and eligible organizations with a Maryville address have received more than $23.3 million in public funds for COVID-19 relief via grants and low-interest loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, COVID-19 Emergency Injury Disaster Loans, the COVID-19 Emergency Injury Disaster Loan Advance program, Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and small business and nonprofit organization grants through Nodaway County’s allocation of CARES Act funds.

Of that $23.3 million, a little over $19 million, including funding through the PPP, does not need to be repaid to taxpayers if a recipient used the funds as intended.

Nonetheless, small businesses both in Nodaway County and across the nation are ailing from pandemic-related losses of customers and employees, continuing to put the crunch on Main Street business owners as it has for a year and a half.

To help address some of those issues related to COVID-19, another possible use of municipal funds is to provide aid to local small businesses or nonprofits. That could take the form of supplements to make up for pandemic-related revenue losses, or to fund COVID-19 mitigation strategies like adding barriers or partitions, implement employee vaccination or testing programs, or make physical changes to a space to enable social distancing — just to name a few specific examples.

Maryville City Council members on Monday voiced support for supplementing existing aid to small businesses and intend to work with the Nodaway County Commission on coordinating programs.

On Tuesday, Josh McKim, executive director of Nodaway County Economic Development, and Amy Gessert, executive director of the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce, met with county officials to discuss a potential funding plan for local small businesses through municipal and county funds from the American Rescue Plan.

The proposal presented by McKim, which is a preliminary recommendation and not finalized, calls for a three-part, $300,000 dollar pilot program that would provide grants and loans to local businesses through one of three categories, each allocated $100,000 at first.

Under the first category, small businesses could submit applications for grants of up to $5,000, similar to last year’s small business grant program carried out at the county level to disburse federal CARES Act funds. The grants would have to meet requirements under the Rescue Plan, but otherwise have no specific targeted use.

The second category would set up a loan program that McKim suggested consist of no-interest loans. These would likely be targeted for larger investments, like the addition of outdoor seating for a restaurant, for example, which would be eligible for Rescue Plan spending through the outdoor spaces provision.

The third way businesses could secure funding would be through a targeted promotions program aimed at drawing back customers who stopped coming into brick-and-mortar businesses during the pandemic.

“It’s become second nature to shop online” during the pandemic, McKim said.

At the beginning of the pandemic small businesses were encouraged — and did — lean into finding ways to keep their businesses afloat online or through other measures like curbside services, but now, McKim said, getting customers back into safe, physical shopping environments should be a top priority.

“I think there’s some value to (finding ways to offer online or alternative options for customers), but with that, we also want to make sure we’re encouraging people not to shut down their bricks-and-mortar when they go online. So we want to help them promote their bricks-and-mortar operation, encouraging folks to get there,” McKim said. “I think some concerted, countywide efforts around shopping local are important.”

McKim said promotional campaigns would highlight safe shopping efforts at local businesses, and be targeted at both local audiences and regional customers in surrounding counties and states through both traditional and social media.

The county commissioners tentatively voiced support for the program and for a third-party agency, potentially NCED, to administer payments to businesses once a funding plan is finalized. All project proposals would be judged for community impact and eligibility under Rescue Plan guidelines.

Maryville City Manager Greg McDanel, who was also present at Tuesday’s meeting, said he would take the information back to City Council members to discuss how such a plan may fit into their spending priorities for Rescue Plan funds and to get their input on the structure of the proposal.

McKim stressed that the plan put forward Tuesday is intended to be a pilot program to gauge interest and effectiveness in the three target areas. After the pilot program funds are exhausted, he said, he would likely return to the commission to request a larger allocation for a more comprehensive program.

Commissioners said they will consult with the county’s attorney to discuss details of requirements and any other adjustments that may need to be made to the program before moving forward.