The City of Beaverton recently revealed a dynamic impact report of the city’s COVID-19 business recovery grant program—an effort that has helped bring more than $6 million in pandemic relief to nearly 550 local businesses in the past two years.
The impact report is available for viewing online at Beaverton’s COVID-19 Business Recovery Grants and includes an interactive map-based dashboard to explore where grants were distributed throughout the city to show the community how emergency funds were put to use during this difficult time.
“When the pandemic hit, we asked our business community what specific assistance would be most helpful,” said Mayor Beaty. “Based on feedback, we developed a grant program with guiding values and over two years infused $6 million dollars into our business community through recovery grants. Half of those grants went to women-owned businesses and nearly two-thirds of them went to BIPOC-owned businesses. We helped parents get back to work by supporting childcare and other businesses. We expanded outdoor dining and created the First Street Dining Commons. We knew that by supporting our local, small businesses we were taking great steps toward equitable recovery. Beaverton is proud of our thriving business community, and we are hopeful that these investments continue to support both existing and emerging business owners.”
The businesses helped were some of those most significantly impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, including restaurants, childcare facilities, and personal care services like salons, gyms and entertainment establishments that depended on in-person customer service.
Grants also aimed to help parents get back to work and those businesses impacted by pandemic-related labor force and supply chain challenges. The city’s efforts focused on providing support to the most vulnerable businesses, such as businesses directly impacted by government mandates and consumer reluctance and neighborhood storefront businesses with diverse ownership.
The impact report features navigation with business testimonials to hear directly from some of our grant recipients about the impact of funding received.
Seven rounds of grants were offered to, six by the City of Beaverton from Federal, State, and City funding and one round funded by the State of Oregon and administered through a partnership between Business Oregon and Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO).
The City of Beaverton has a strong history of supporting local business through a variety of grant programs and community partnerships. Learn more about these efforts and current grant opportunities at https://beavertonoregon.gov/213/Economic-Development.
