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Report regarding a resolution granting $260,000 to the San Mateo County Strong Restaurant, Brewery & Winery Grant Program to fund 26 grants to eligible South San Francisco businesses. (Ernesto Lucero, Economic Development Coordinator).
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council approve a resolution granting $260,000 to the San Mateo County Strong Restaurant, Brewery & Winery Grant Program to fund grants of $10,000 each to 26 eligible South San Francisco businesses.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA) has been coordinating several COVID relief programs for local businesses in San Mateo County. These programs are offered through the County initiative “San Mateo County Strong,” which is funded by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
As part of its ongoing efforts through San Mateo County Strong, SAMCEDA created the Restaurant, Brewery & Winery Grant Program. This program, which launched on February 22, 2021, offers grants of $10,000 to qualifying businesses, to help fund payroll, rent, or needed working capital to accommodate health and safety operational modifications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Attachment 1 describes the program. Grant applications were due March 8, 2021 and the program has since stopped accepting new applications.
SAMCEDA received, reviewed, and approved a total of 40 eligible businesses from South San Francisco to receive $10,000 grants each.
As the grant program has been oversubscribed, the last round of funding allowed only 14 grants to be awarded to South San Francisco businesses. Therefore, SAMCEDA had planned to conduct a lottery to determine which of the 40 businesses would receive the 14 available grants. However, in discussions between the City and SAMCEDA, there was an opportunity for the program to award grants to all 40 of the South San Francisco establishments, if the City of South San Francisco agreed to fund the financial gap for the additional 26 grants beyond the initial 14 that the program can fund using their existing resources. This would require the City to contribute $260,000 (i.e., 26 grants of $10,000 each) to the grant program.
FISCAL IMPACT
The $260,000 grant would have no new impact on the General Fund, as it would be drawn from previously appropriated funds in the Economic & Community Development Department and the Finance Department. Staff expects these General Fund departmental budgets will be replenished once the City receives its allocation of the recently adopted American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act funds. The ARP acceptance and appropriation will come to Council as a separate action item at a future meeting. The grant will be made to the San Mateo County Credit Union, which administers the San Mateo County Strong Fund.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends the City Council approve a resolution granting $260,000 to the San Mateo County Strong Restaurant, Brewery & Winery Grant Program to fund grants of $10,000 each to 26 eligible South San Francisco businesses.
Attachments:
1. San Mateo County Strong Restaurant, Brewery & Winery (RBW) Grant Program Information
2. Staff Presentation