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State passes $55M grant program for Arkansas businesses

The Arkansas Ready for Businesses grant program is taking applications Tuesday (May 5) and Wednesday (May 6) after an inadvertent test run last week.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — Small businesses struggling to stay on their feet could receive assistance sooner rather than later.

The Arkansas Ready for Businesses grant program is taking applications Tuesday (May 5) and Wednesday (May 6) after an inadvertent test run last week.

The website for businesses to apply for the grant mistakenly went live before the initial funds were approved. It got a lot of traffic during that time and met its limit shortly after going live.

The financial assistance is aimed at helping companies get back on their feet as they begin to reopen to the public amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At first we had asked for $15 million from the general assembly for this grant program to help small businesses to get the equipment that they need get the cleaning material make the adjustment they need and that was clearly not enough,” Governor Asa Hutchinson said during a press conference Monday (May 4).

That $15 million was bumped up to $55 million.

Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston says if you were able to get an application in on April 29th there is no need to reapply.

“Anyone who did apply last week does not need to go in and reapply we already have those applications on file,” he said.

$1,000 in funding will be available to businesses per each full-time employee with a $100,000 cap per company.

15% of the funds are reserved for female or minority-owned businesses and 75% is for businesses with 50 or fewer employees.

The website will reopen Tuesday (May 5) at 8 a.m. and applications must be fully submitted by 6 p.m. on Wednesday (May 6).

The application process requires a driver's license, signed W-9 and a certificate of good standing.

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