City officials organized a Zoom conference on June 30, to walk business owners and other listeners through the process of applying for the Alaska CARES Grant. This grant was created through a partnership of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, and Credit Union 1. It aims to provide relief funding for small businesses that have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. The application process opened on June 1, according to the DCCED website.
The webinar was led by Kelley Decker and Collin Dando, with C.F. James, who walked people through the application process.
"This came about by the Economic Development Committee realizing there was a lot of confusion in all the documentation that was needed for all these different programs that are out there," said Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore. "Tonight's focus is just on the Alaska CARES Grant."
Small businesses that qualify for the grant can receive anywhere between $5,000 and $100,000, Dando said. It's a pretty good deal, Decker said, as long as one can navigate the paperwork. There are several tools people should know about to get the application done. Credit Union 1 will not accept any paper applications, Decker said, so it is important to know how to apply online. Applications can be done with tools like Adobe Fill & Sign, scanners, and tools to sign documents digitally. The specific tools to use depend on which platform is being used.
It is also important to know what kinds of businesses are eligible to apply, Decker and Dando said. A business is eligible for the Alaska CARES Grant if they were a valid business as of March 11 of this year, have less than 50 full-time employees, and did not qualify or did not receive PPP or EIDL funding. However, they also said that it is imminent that businesses who received less than $5,000 in PPP or EIDL funding will be eligible to apply, as well. Businesses that do not qualify include marijuana businesses, out-of-state businesses, secondary income or part-time businesses, sole-proprietor fishermen, or businesses that received over $5,000 in PPP or EIDL funding.
There are two main documents that Credit Union 1 has for the grant application, Dando said. These can be found online, at Credit Union 1's website. The first document is where applicants write down their requested amount of money.
"You can qualify from between $5,000 to $100,000," Decker reiterated. "That amount is going to be dictated by how much of the eligible expenses, and we will go through that information later, that you come up with."
Step one, they said, is simply to download the funding application. The first document is where applicants put down their names, personal information, business information, and the requested grant amount. Some important information for applicants to have on hand, Decker said, include their TIN or EIN that was issued to their business. Certain applicants also need their DUNS number, which Decker said is a number the federal government gives to businesses that contract with them. All owners of the business in question will need to be listed, as well. Applicants will also need to checkmark what the grant money will be used for, Dando said.
The second document applicants will need to look at is a schedule of eligible expenses, Decker said. This can include expenses like payroll, short term debts or loans, rent or mortgage, utility payments, purchase of business equipment or personal protective equipment, costs to replenish inventory, or other necessary reopening expenses. It is important for applicants to remember the timeframe for when these expenses occur.
"Eligible expenses will begin as of March 11, 2020," Decker said. "That is the timeframe they are looking at for these eligible expenses."
"It goes until eight weeks after the day that you apply," Dando added.
Dando also said if a business had a necessary expense to keep operating, but were not sure if it could be covered, they should go ahead and add the expense anyway.
Applicants will also need supporting documentation for their application, Dando said. The applicant will need documentation for expenses prior to the application date and for expenses eight weeks after the application date. The expenses that the business wants to cover will need to be backed up, Decker said. This documentation can look like bank or credit card statements, invoices, utility bills, or cancelled checks, among other forms of documentation between March 11 and the application date. A daily average or estimate can be used if the business was not operating in 2019, or if expenses are higher in 2020.
More general documentation will include a driver's license or other valid form of ID, business license, or articles of organization/incorporation and a certificate of organization/incorporation.
"You want to try and get as much backup as you can," Decker said.
Reimbursed expenses will be subject to a 25 percent cap, they said. As an example, Dando said that a $10,000 grant would cap reimbursed expenses at $2,500. Reimbursed expenses are expenses that will be paid to a vendor, Decker explained, versus sending grant money directly to the business applying for the grant. The only expense that is going to count towards reimbursement between March 11 and the application date are cash payments, with receipts and written explanations. In the eight weeks following the application date, expenses counting towards this 25 percent cap can include equipment purchases that you are unable to get a purchase order for, or payroll expenses.
Dando provided an example of the reimbursed expense cap. A business is approved for a $100,000 grant, and only has $100,000 in eligible expenses. Half of the expenses are accrued before the application date, and the other half are projected in the eight weeks after the application date. $45,000 of eligible expenses prior to the application date were paid with checks or credit cards, which can be backed up with documentation. $5,000 of expenses prior to the application date were paid in cash, with documentation. That $5,000 will be subject to the 25 percent cap.
After the application date, $25,000 in expenses can be paid directly to the vendor, while the other $25,000 is estimated payroll over the eight week period, which would be subject to the 25 percent cap. The applicant's total of $30,000 in reimbursed expenses would be limited to $23,333, therefore, and the grant funding would be reduced to $93,333.
Decker admitted that this was complicated, even for them. She and Dando encouraged listeners to revisit the presentation, which was being recorded, and to ask them questions. There are some ways to get around the 25 percent cap, Dando said. He suggested that people speak with Credit Union 1 on ways to avoid the cap, or to talk to them.
Going back to the schedule of eligible expenses, how the expenses are listed depending on whether or not the expense has been paid yet. For example, if a business intends to cover a utility bill with the city, they will list the city as a creditor and the account number the business has with the city. That money will then be sent to the mailing address of the city. On the other hand, if the business has already paid some utility bills they want to be reimbursed for, the application will write "reimburse business" in the account number column and provide the business's mailing address. All expenses will then be added up, and listed as the total amount requested from the grant and put on the application.
Once the application and schedule of expenses are completed, the application and documents then have to be uploaded and sent to Credit Union 1. After the application is submitted, someone from Credit Union 1 will reach out to the
applicant for any information that may be missing. Incomplete applications will be returned and not hold a place in line, Decker said, so applicants need to be careful, but quick, when
completing their paperwork. Grants are subject to audits, as well, so keeping receipts and documenting everything is also important.
"What happens with these loans and grants is that money goes pretty fast, so you're going to want to make sure it's complete before you're submitting it," she said. "The grant money has to be spent by the end of December, so whatever they give you has to be spent."
More information on the Alaska CARES Grant can be found online, http://www.commerce.alaska.gov or http://www.cui.org/cares/. A recording of the webinar can be found on the city's website, http://www.wrangell.com.
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