Small grants keep a few local outfits in operation

WARDEN — The $10,000 couldn’t have come at a better time for Cindy Collins and her business.

“Of course I was hopeful,” said Collins, who co-owns the 19th Hole Bar and Grill at the Sage Hills County Club with her husband Daniel. “When I got it I went running to my husband, this just saved our business!”

The $10,000 that the Collinses received is one of more than a thousand Working Washington Small Business grants given to companies with 10 or fewer employees as part of the state’s effort to help businesses badly affected by the state’s closures prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak in March.

The grants come from $10 million in an emergency fund set aside for economic development to be used at the discretion of Gov. Jay Inslee and were announced in early April. The money will be used to reimburse for rent, utilities, supplies and operating costs — ordinary expenses that countless businesses have had difficulty with under the state’s lockdown.

According to the Washington State Department of Commerce, which awarded the grants, 21 businesses in Grant County received $201,130. Among the recipients are six retailers, four restaurants, three health care providers, two construction companies, two salons, one law firm and one collection agency.

In Adams County, 27 businesses received grants totaling $154,548, including eight salons, seven retailers, five restaurants, and three health care providers.

According to Cindy Collins, 2020 is going to be a tough year for the 19th Hole, as many of the tournaments that keep the bar and grill afloat have been canceled.

“We depend on tournaments. We missed out on five, including the two largest, and we don’t have excess cash,” she said.

Business has picked up in the last week, Collins said, enough to justify hiring a server. But the extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits makes finding someone willing to work a little difficult right now, she said.

Collins said she was especially thankful that the owners of the Sage Hills Country Club, Mark and Audrey Looker, have been willing to waive the 19th Hole’s rent and utility payments.

“They are the only reason we still have our doors open,” she said. “They are the nicest people I’ve ever dealt with.”

Gabriella Avakimian is the chief operating officer of Moses Lake Dental Group — another recipient of a $10,000 emergency grant. She said the company will use it to help cover rent and employee health insurance, as well as get the office ready to reopen.

“We have to make sure it’s safe to reopen,” Avakimian said. “We’ve installed air filters, created a couple of negative pressure rooms, added UV lights to disinfect, as well as sneeze guard and lots of personal protective equipment.”

“There’s so much to take care of,” she said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].