On Monday morning the city of Albuquerque opened applications for a new $10 million grant program intended to help local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses can qualify for grants worth up to $10,000 through the new Small Business Economic Relief Grant Program. The money comes from the city’s federal coronavirus relief package.
To qualify, businesses must have 50 or fewer full-time employees (two part-timers are counted as one full-timer) and have been in operation for at least one year. Applicants must also demonstrate economic hardship due to the pandemic and have a current city business registration license. Businesses that previously received COVID-19 assistance from the city, county or the state can still qualify, but their grant would be limited so that their total aggregate support did not surpass $10,000. The city said in a news release that grants will go out on a “first-come, first-served basis” unless the demand exceeds the available funds. In that event, the city would use a “weighted lottery system” to determine recipients. To read the press release from Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller Click HERE.
Before applying make sure you have the required documents ready. Applicants have 7 calendar days to submit all required documentation before their application becomes inactive. The documents required to apply are listed below:
- Full copy of 2019 tax returns or copy of 2018 tax returns with the letter of 2019 tax extension;
- NM CRS documentation;
- Current City of Albuquerque business registration;
- City of Albuquerque modified W9;
- Financial documents demonstrating sales decrease due to COVID-19 (2019 and 2020 Q1 and/or Q2 – Example – Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet or business bank statements)
- Employment verification (one of the following):
- W-3 Summary
- Payroll Report/Summary
- Q2 Form 941
- 1040 Schedule SE
