WSDA Rolls Out COVID19 Relief Grants To Small Businesses Statewide

In an effort to help the farming community negatively impacted by the pandemic, the Washington State Department of Agriculture recently announced it has awarded more than $14.2 million in COVID-19 relief grants to small businesses across the state. The WSDA’s Amber Betts said the recovery grants are for businesses that may have not qualified for earlier relief, and this latest round of funds went to 839 businesses in 37 of Washington's 39 counties.

"The intent of the grants is to assist these small businesses in four sectors including, shellfish growers, farmers' market organizations, agritourism farms and craft beverage producers."

Each sector has been hit especially hard during the pandemic. 

• Restaurants consume 90% of the shellfish in Washington State. When those restaurants shuttered, shellfish growers' revenue severely declined.
• Restrictions led to drastically reduced incomes for farmers' markets due to a drop in vendor fees and shoppers. -Agritourism business fell 47% in 2020 as everyone stayed home. 
• With restaurants closed for much of the year, small craft beverage producers experienced a massive income loss.

"A lot of our grant awardees say they plan to use the grant money by purchasing equipment, expanding their operations, keeping staff employed and also paying their rent or mortgage."

Betts noted most of this grant money was distributed earlier this month.

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