Municipality Of Chatham-Kent Finance, Budget & Information Technology Services Financial Services To: Mayor and Members of Council From: Matt Torrance, MBA, CPA, CGA Director, Financial Services Date: July 29, 2020 Subject: Small Business Recovery Grants ______________________________________________________________________ Recommendation It is recommended that: 1. The 70 applicants identified in Appendix A be approved to receive the Chatham-Kent Small Business Recovery Grant in the amount of $2,857 each. Background Council approved the following recommendation at the June 15, 2020 Council meeting: “1. A $200,000 Covid-19 Chatham-Kent Small Business Recovery Grant Program be developed by Community Development and Financial Services staff, to begin achieving the goal of Recommendation #6 as found in the Chatham-Kent Economic Recovery Task Force (CKERTF) report, by redirecting funds and reducing service levels from the following approved programs: a) $200,000 from the Together CK: CK Plan 2035 Community Projects budget.” Subsequent to the Council meeting, the Small Business Recovery Grant Committee brought forward an Information Report outlining the criteria for the program (Appendix B) to the June 29 Council meeting. At that meeting, Council approved the following motion with respect to the grant program: “That the report be accepted with the following changes: 1. That the application process remain open until July 16, 2020. 2. That not for profits and charities be moved to the eligible listing. 3. That from the Eligibility Criteria the term “or that relief was insufficient” be removed.
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Municipality Of Chatham-Kent
Finance, Budget & Information Technology Services
Financial Services
To: Mayor and Members of Council
From: Matt Torrance, MBA, CPA, CGA Director, Financial Services
Date: July 29, 2020
Subject: Small Business Recovery Grants ______________________________________________________________________
Recommendation
It is recommended that:
1. The 70 applicants identified in Appendix A be approved to receive the Chatham-Kent Small Business Recovery Grant in the amount of $2,857 each.
Background Council approved the following recommendation at the June 15, 2020 Council meeting: “1. A $200,000 Covid-19 Chatham-Kent Small Business Recovery Grant Program be developed by Community Development and Financial Services staff, to begin achieving the goal of Recommendation #6 as found in the Chatham-Kent Economic Recovery Task Force (CKERTF) report, by redirecting funds and reducing service levels from the following approved programs: a) $200,000 from the Together CK: CK Plan 2035 Community Projects budget.” Subsequent to the Council meeting, the Small Business Recovery Grant Committee brought forward an Information Report outlining the criteria for the program (Appendix B) to the June 29 Council meeting. At that meeting, Council approved the following motion with respect to the grant program:
“That the report be accepted with the following changes:
1. That the application process remain open until July 16, 2020. 2. That not for profits and charities be moved to the eligible listing. 3. That from the Eligibility Criteria the term “or that relief was insufficient” be
removed.
Small Business Recovery Grants 2
4. That a member of the not for profit sector be included on the Small Business Recovery Grant Committee.
5. That a summary of applications be brought back to Council after the application period closes.”
Comments
As per Council’s direction, Chris Pegg was added to the committee as a member from the not-for-profit sector. Chris is the Asst Executive Director of the CK Community Foundation and a member of the United Way’s Co-investor Group.
Applications to the program were accepted from July 2 until July 16. A total of 169 applications were received. A breakdown of the applications based on information submitted by the applicant is provided by community, business sector and business type, in Appendix C.
The Small Business Recovery Grant Committee met on July 21 to review the list of applicants and discussed how the approved eligibility criteria would be applied. Committee members were required to declare conflicts of interest where appropriate in reviewing individual applications. One of the eligibility criteria was that the applicant was unable or ineligible to access other forms of relief. The committee determined that the following forms of relief identified by the applicants were ineligible for this program:
Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA)
Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Program (CEWS)
Commercial Landlord Relief Assistance Program
Business Development Bank of Canada
Community Futures Development Corporation of Chatham-Kent
Emergency Community Support Fund
Some applicants indicated that they had received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). This was a benefit targeted to individual incomes rather than businesses and therefore the committee determined that applicants who received CERB benefits would be eligible for this program.
Another eligibility criteria that several applicants did not meet was the requirement that the applicant pay commercial taxes or lease from a landlord who paid commercial taxes. When the committee developed the criteria, the intention was to target small businesses who owned or rented commercial property within Chatham-Kent. When the eligibility criteria was changed at the June 29 Council meeting to include not for profits and registered charities, the impact of this criteria may have been overlooked. As a result, 10 of the 19 applications received from not for profits and charities did not qualify on this basis.
A full list of the eligibility criteria that the unsuccessful applicants did not meet is summarized in the table below:
Small Business Recovery Grants 3
Criteria Applications Ineligible
Other forms of relief or supports 49
Business viable as of March 17, 2020 2
Own or rent a property in the commercial tax class 33
Incomplete or withdrew application 11
Willing to have business name published 2
Located in Chatham-Kent 2
The Small Business Recovery Grant Committee recommends that the applicants identified in Appendix A be approved to receive the Small Business Recovery Grant. Based on 70 approved applications, each grant recipient would receive $2,857.
Areas of Strategic Focus and Critical Success Factors
The recommendation in this report supports the following areas of strategic focus: Economic Prosperity:
Chatham-Kent is an innovative and thriving community with a diversified economy
A Healthy and Safe Community: Chatham-Kent is a healthy and safe community with sustainable population growth
People and Culture: Chatham-Kent is recognized as a culturally vibrant, dynamic, and creative community
Environmental Sustainability: Chatham-Kent is a community that is environmentally sustainable and promotes stewardship of our natural resources
The recommendation in this report supports the following critical success factors: Financial Sustainability:
The Corporation of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent is financially sustainable
Open, Transparent and Effective Governance: The Corporation of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent is open, transparent and effectively governed with efficient and bold, visionary leadership
Has the potential to support all areas of strategic focus & critical success factors
Small Business Recovery Grants 4
Neutral issues (does not support negatively or positively) Consultation
The Small Business Recovery Grant Committee has contributed to this report. The members are:
• Jamie Rainbird (Manager, Economic Development Services) • Matt Torrance (Director, Financial Services) • Audrey Ansell (Manager, Community Attraction and Promotion) • Donna Pollock (Exec Dir, Community Futures Development Corporation of Chatham-Kent) • Chris Pegg (Asst Exec Dir, CK Community Foundation) Financial Implications
The Small Business Recovery Grant program is being funded from a reallocation of $200,000 from the Together CK: CK Plan 2035 Community Projects budget.
Prepared by: Reviewed by:
____________________________ __________________________ Matt Torrance, MBA, CPA, CGA Gord Quinton, MBA, CPA, CGA Director, Financial Services Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer Consulted and confirmed the content of the consultation section of the report by:
____________________________ __________________________ Jamie Rainbird Audrey Ansell Manager, Economic Development Services Manager, Community Attraction & Promotion
____________________________ __________________________ Donna Pollock, Executive Director Chris Pegg, Asst Executive Director Community Futures Development Corp. CK Community Foundation
Attachments: Appendix A – List of recommended applicants Appendix B – Grant Program Application / Criteria Appendix C – Breakdown of applications P:\RTC\F&PS\Finance\2020\RTC022 – Small Business Recovery Grants
APPENDIX A
Grant Recipient Community Business Type
A Perfect Setting Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Absolute Sound Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Acceptional Riders Therapeutic Riding program Chatham Registered charity
Alexandria's Dance Studio Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Angel Bilagot RDT RP Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Another 1s Treasures Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Armstrong Submission Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Art and Heirloom Shoppe Chatham Small business (for-profit)
ATAP PROPERTIES INC Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Baja Cafe 1684656 Ontario Inc. Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Ballistic Fitness Wallaceburg Small business (for-profit)
Bella Chocolatier Chatham Small business (for-profit)
BLB Honey & Beekeeping Supplies and The Crappie Store Dresden Small business (for-profit)
Charisma Hair & Beauty Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Chatham Driving School Inc o/a DriveWise Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Chatham Music Academy Chatham Small business (for-profit)
EFV REIKI Tilbury Small business (for-profit)
Elite Windows and Doors Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Fantastic Greetings Inc Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Fiberto Works Corp Wallaceburg Small business (for-profit)
Fiery Fitness Tilbury Small business (for-profit)
Flap Jacks Chatham, Tilbury Small business (for-profit)
Flashpoint Entertainment Centre Incorporated Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Fortresss Tavern Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Fuzion Sports and Rec Ltd. Chatham Small business (for-profit)
Great Lakes Gymnastics Center Inc. Chatham Small business (for-profit)