Authorize the Interim County Administrator or designee to accept the California Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant from the California Office of the Small Business Advocate in the amount of $274,170 and take necessary actions to execute agreement. (No general fund impact) (Cook/Schneegas)

Authorize the Interim County Administrator or designee to accept the California Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant from the California Office of the Small Business Advocate in the amount of $274,170 and take necessary actions to execute the agreement.

Robust Economy

With the continued prevalence of COVID-19 cases due to the Delta and Omicron variants, small businesses continue to face financial hardship and limits on their operations. Among the hardest hit by COVID-19 are microbusinesses in industries severely impacted by COVID-19 health and safety orders. In response to this need, the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) issued a request for proposals (RFP) in October 2021 to solicit applications from California county governments to administer the California Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant (MBCRG) program. The MBCRG program provides approximately $50 million in one-time grant funding. The funds are used to offer grants of up to $2,500 to qualified microbusinesses impacted by COVID-19. Yolo County applied in November 2021 during Round 1 of the RFP and was awarded the amount of $274,169.93. This grant funding is anticipated to distribute up to 88 grants of $2,500 each to eligible microbusinesses throughout Yolo County. 
 
Twenty percent of the award can cover administrative expenses, including marketing, outreach, eligibility verification, reporting, and data collection. The MBCRG program has no local match requirement.
 
To implement the MBCRG program, the County will be required to develop and implement an outreach and marketing plan to identify and engage eligible microbusinesses, including those that do not speak English as a primary language. CalOSBA further requires that these plans be developed in conjunction with at least four community-based organizations or non-profit entities. Yolo County Children's Alliance, RISE, Inc., Children's Home Society of California, and the Yolo County Farm Bureau have signed MOUs with the County outlining the scope of responsibilities that detail outreach expectations to reach eligible microbusinesses. In addition, the County will be responsible for issuing periodic written reports for submission to CalOSBA throughout the program period.

Microbusinesses must meet the following criteria to qualify for the MBCRG awards:

• The microbusiness began operation before December 31, 2021.
• The microbusiness is currently active and operating or has a clear plan to reopen when the state permits the reopening of the business.
• The microbusiness was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The microbusiness has fewer than five full-time equivalent employees and had fewer than five full-time equivalent employees in the 2019 and 2020 tax years.
• The microbusiness is not excluded from participation in the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program.

Additionally, qualified microbusiness owners must meet and self-certify, under penalty of perjury, all the following criteria:
 

• The microbusiness owner is the majority-owner and manager of the qualified microbusiness.
• The microbusiness owner's primary means of income in the 2019 taxable year was the qualified microbusiness.
• The microbusiness owner did not receive a grant under the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program.

County staff recognize that there may be many challenges in the administration of this program as presently designed:

• Strict eligibility requirements target only the smallest businesses which may be less connected to the broader established business community.
• The County has a limited direct relationship with some of these businesses, and much of the population and businesses would reside in the Cities.
• Administrative funds may not be sufficient to administer the program and advertising required. In addition, there is no guarantee that the County can reach sufficient microbusinesses with this funding. There is limited data available on how many microbusinesses exist and would have suffered COVID-19 impacts to qualify.

Despite these considerations, staff believe it is essential to aid qualifying businesses in need. Therefore, staff recommend acceptance of the MBCRG award and requests the Board of Supervisors to authorize County Administrator or designee to take all actions necessary to implement and execute this grant program.

The County will collaborate on outreach with non-profit organizations, including the Yolo County Children's Alliance, RISE, Inc., Children's Home Society of California, and the Yolo County Farm Bureau. The County Administrator’s Office will collaborate with Department of Financial Services to ensure that only eligible microbusinesses receive any grant funding.  This grant application was approved by the County's Grant Oversight Committee.

Not applicable.