EBENSBURG – The Cambria County Board of Commissioners voted on Thursday to approve a grant agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP).
The amount of the grant is $1,474,602, with the dates of the program covering eligible operating expenses spanning from March 1, 2020 to June 15, 2021.
On a statewide basis, the COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program will allocate $145 million in funding assistance to hospitality industry businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The commissioners also approved an agreement with Johnstown Industrial Development Corporation to administer the CHIRP grant on behalf of the county at a rate of $500 per completed and reviewed grant application.
Johnstown Area Regional Industries (JARI) will oversee the process of seeking and collecting applications and distributing funds under state guidelines. The application process can begin no later than March 15. JARI President Linda Thomson says that the process will be followed to the letter of the legislation passed down by the commonwealth.
“They would have to be in the two NAICS codes – 721 (accommodation), 722 (food service and drinking places),” Thomson said. “They would have to have had losses per the application guidelines in 2020. They would have had to have been in business since February 15, 2020, and they would have to show what those losses were over the specific time periods that are detailed.
“Priority will be given to those who have had 50% or more losses, and who haven’t had CARES money in the past and were under mandatory shutdown. Those are the three instances where companies will have a higher priority in the funding scheme.”
Thomson pointed out following the meeting that eligible businesses that have received CARES money for COVID-related losses cannot recoup the same losses or expenses during this new application process.
“If someone has received CARES money in the past and it’s really supported them, they can’t apply for additional money for the same expenses,” Thomson explained. They have to have other expenses that have come into play since they got the CARES money. It doesn’t make them ineligible. They just can’t double-dip, so to speak.
“Once we get all of that ironed out, we can manage the applications and applicants for the amount of money that they’re eligible for. This will be first-come, first-served, but by the same token, we’re going to take applications. It’s a rolling application process. There’s no hard and fast deadline that says you have to apply by March 30, or something like that. We’ll continue to (accept) applications through the end of…
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