Deadline for Pocatello small business COVID relief extended

POCATELLO — Having received approval from the state, the city of Pocatello is extending its application deadline for COVID-19 pandemic small business relief grants.

The deadline to apply has been pushed to Jan. 13 at 5 p.m. More information and a printable application can be found here. City officials ask that completed application be emailed to PocatelloSmallBusinessGrant@Pocatello.us.

The city designated $250,000 from Gov. Brad Little’s Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee last year for small business grants. Of that initial amount, $104,000 remains available.

Qualifying businesses could be awarded as much as $10,000.

In order to qualify for a grant, businesses must meet the following criteria:

• Business must be a small business, defined as businesses with 500 employees or less.
• Business must have an official EIN #.
• Business must be an Idaho domiciled business and located in the Pocatello city limits.
• Business must be in good standing and not federally debarred from receiving funds.
• Business must have a qualified business interruption or expense caused by COVID-19 related incidents or decisions, including but not limited to local closure orders, need for personal protective equipment, social distancing requirements, increased costs, disrupted supply network, etc.
• Business has not received funds for the current purpose by other COVID-19 grant programs.
• Adverse effects and expenses planned for the use of the grant must occur between June 20, 2020 and December 30, 2020.
• Business does not exist for the purpose of advancing partisan political activities or the business does not directly lobby federal or state officials, defined as having had a registered lobbyist at any point during 2020.
• Business is not currently in bankruptcy.
• Business is current with property taxes, or has a payment plan in place with the county.
• Business has liability insurance in place by date of executed agreement.
• Business is registered with IRS and Idaho Business Registration Secretary of State.