California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), part
of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development
(GO-Biz), announced that it is now accepting applications from
California County governments to administer the California
Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant Program (MBCRG). Counties are
encouraged to apply for funding to provide $2,500 grants to
eligible microbusinesses that have been impacted by COVID-19 and
the associated health and safety restrictions.
The MBCRG Program provides approximately $50 million in
one-time grant funding. The first round Request for Proposal
(RFP) to designate eligible grantmaking entities is open to all
58 California County governments. The intent of the funding is to
provide relief to the hardest to reach microbusinesses and
entrepreneurs.
The grantmaking entities will develop and implement an outreach
and marketing plan to identify and engage eligible
microbusinesses that face systemic barriers to access capital,
including but not limited to, businesses owned by women,
minorities, veterans, individuals without documentation,
individuals with limited English proficiency, and business owners
located in low-wealth and rural, communities.
CalOSBA is available to provide technical application assistance
via e-mail at
osba@gobiz.ca.gov. There will be a zoom webinar for
interested applicants held on Wednesday, October
27 at 10 a.m. Interested applicants can register
HERE.
The deadline to submit an application is November 18,
2021, at 5:00 PM. Applications must be submitted by
e-mail to
osba@gobiz.ca.gov. For full application instructions, funding
allocation by County, eligibility criteria, and additional
information, please see the Request for Proposal Announcement at
https://calosba.ca.gov/grant-and-funding-opportunities/
and grants.ca.gov.
CalOSBA will conduct no more than two rounds for grant
administrators, with this first round open only to county
governments. The application period is open from October 11, 2021
until November 18, 2021.
