Greater Fort Wayne Inc. is encouraging Huntertown small businesses to send in their applications for Allen County CARES Grants to cover expenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fort Wayne received about $9 million from the state’s CARES Act funding, and Allen County received about $12 million. Reimbursements were initially focused primarily on personal protective equipment for public sector workers. However, the Indiana Office of Management and Budget loosened restrictions on permissible uses in September, allowing funds to be made available to small businesses.

“Quite frankly, what we heard was that the restrictions were too narrow to actually spend those dollars before the end of the year, which is a requirement,” Ellen Cutter, Greater Fort Wayne Inc.’s vice president of economic development, told Huntertown Town Council members Nov. 2.

The City of Fort Wayne and Allen County have committed $1 million for the grants, which Greater Fort Wayne Inc. is administering.

“Huntertown businesses are eligible, so we’d like to encourage businesses in Huntertown. Check out our website, grant.gfwinc.com,” Cutter said. “… We will be reviewing applications and accepting applications through Dec. 1, or until the funds are expended.”

Businesses with fewer than 150 employees can be reimbursed up to $5,000 for expenses such as PPE, sanitation products, and some facility modifications and technology investments. In order to qualify, businesses must be a private for-profit or non-profit business located in Allen County and have a business start date prior to Feb. 15.

Reimbursable expenditures include:

• PPE including masks, face shields, gloves, hand sanitizer and disinfectant products
• Facility sanitation equipment, products and services
• Facility modifications and technology investments to promote social distancing including (but not limited to) telework technology, signage, air handling, partitioning, improvements for safe queueing, and construction of health and safety improvements aimed at reducing the spread of infection

Cutter encouraged businesses to apply as soon as possible, as the grants are awarded on a first-come-first-served basis.

“So far, we’ve got about $250,000 in requests, so there is still ample time to get applications in,” she said.

For more information, email info@greaterfortwayneinc.com.

Also during Town Council’s meeting Nov. 2, Cutter told council members Greater Fort Wayne Inc. — which the town partners with on economic development efforts — has completed a total of 15 deals in 2020, creating 1,700 new jobs and $160 million in private property investment. Ten of those were attraction projects completed through national or international investments, compared to just one such investment out of 21 in 2019, Cutter said.