State awards small-business grants in Grant, Adams counties

MOSES LAKE — Governor Jay Inslee on Tuesday announced that the state Department of Commerce had made the first round of awards of the Working Washington grants to small businesses across the state.

Inslee, speaking at a press conference Tuesday, said 501 recipients in 20 counties across the state had been awarded grants in the first round. The grants, of up to $10,000, are coming from $10 million in the governor’s emergency fund. They will allow small businesses to cover essential costs such as rent and utilities.

“I hope this a bridge to get them to the other side,” Inslee said.

According to Brant Mayo, head of Grant County Economic Development Council, 21 companies in Grant County have been awarded grants totaling $201,130. The grants are distributed across seven cities and are given to companies that employ a total of 91 people, he said.

“This will prevent the loss of 64 jobs,” he said.

Mayo said the Grant EDC was just beginning to notify the companies that had been awarded the grants and would not be able to make them public yet.

According to Stephen McFadden, director of the Adams County Development Council, 27 small businesses in Adams County received roughly $150,000 in grants from the Working Washington program.

McFadden said that as of Tuesday afternoon, none of the businesses had been notified, since Adams County officials were busy putting paperwork together for the county’s variance application to allow it to go to Phase 2 of the governor’s restart plan.

McFadden noted that the grants are reimbursable, meaning that companies have to spend the money first, and then submit receipts to the development council for reimbursement by the state.

However, once companies accept the grants, that will become public information, McFadden added.

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