SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF GRANT PROGRAM

R.I. Small Business Relief Grant Program:  Helping small businesses affected by COVID-19

The Rhode Island Small Business Relief Grant Program provides grants of $5,000 for Rhode Island small businesses that have suffered financially due to COVID-19. Grant funds may be used to pay for: 

• Wages and/or salaries of employees to avoid furloughs or layoffs; 
• Operational costs incurred to enable the business to remain open through the state of emergency; or  
• Facilitating the reopening of the business if the business was unable to remain open for a portion of the state of emergency.

Applications will open on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 3 PM and will remain open for applications on a first-come, first-served basis through Friday, April 30, 2021 at 5 PM. 

To help prepare to apply, please find a checklist here and the expense form here. 

On Tuesday, April 13, Commerce hosted a live webinar on Facebook to learn more about the program and how to apply. To re-watch this webinar, please click here. (The video is also available on YouTube here.) 

Who is eligible? 

This program is designed for Rhode Island small businesses. Applicants must:

• Be small Rhode Island-based for-profit businesses with less than $1M in 2020 “gross receipts or sales”;
• Demonstrate that they have a COVID-related net financial need of $5,000 or greater. This will be calculated by subtracting the total amount of COVID related grants or financial assistance received for 2020 from the total drop in gross receipts from 2019 to 2020. Businesses who do not meet the $5,000 requirement may also add COVID-related increased costs or expenses.

Additional eligibility details will be made available soon.

Please review the FAQ for more information about eligibility.

Helpful Resources

Contact

Businesses that require assistance may contact the Rhode Island Commerce Small Business Hotline by clicking here.