If you own a small business in Vineland, you’ll want to take note of this. The City of Vineland has appropriated $290,000 of its federa1 Community Development Block Grant CAREs Funds (CDBG-CV) for the Microenterprise COVID-19 Assistance Program. This program provides working capital funds to the community’s small businesses that have been severely impacted by the pandemic and which have received limited or no assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA) or other government programs. Eligible borrowers are Vineland retail, restaurant, entertainment, and non-professional service businesses with no more than five employees, including full- and part-time, that were in business as of December 31, 2019 and have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Funds may be used for payroll, rent, utilities, real estate taxes, insurance, or inventory for a 60-day period and costs to comply with social distancing protocol. Grant amounts are up to $5,000. For grant details, including registration information, see the City of Vineland website at vinelandcity.org.
Our Main Street office is constantly receiving news about grants and opportunities like this. Often, because demand is great and the response is heavy, the window of opportunity to take advantage of these opportunities is short. The best way to make sure that you aren’t being left out is to check the Main Street website regularly.
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Another sign that we’re looking ahead to reopening is that we’re planning for the first three major events of the season. Watch this column and other media for more news about the fourth annual Food Truck Festival on The Ave, scheduled for Sunday, August 23, rain or shine, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Landis Avenue and the Boulevard. The second annual Run The Ave 5K, held in cooperation with Second Capital Running, will take place on Sunday, September 13, rain or shine, from 9 to 11 a.m. Also, the largest car show in New Jersey, Cruise Down Memory Lane, will fill Landis Avenue with millions of dollars of vintage and exotic cars on Saturday, October 10, from 5 to 9 p.m. (rain date: October 11, from 2 to 5 p.m.).
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Don’t forget these important reminders:
• “Shop Local—Shop Safe” is an initiative in partnership with the Greater Vineland Chamber of Commerce to emphasize shopping our local businesses, whether it’s at the retail or supplier level, and doing so in a safe and responsible way, following the proper social distancing guidelines. We now have the yard signs about this campaign, so you can show your support. Contact the Main Street office to get yours.
• Take Out Thursdays is Main Street Vineland’s way of helping restaurants on The Ave, many of which are doing takeout and delivery. This week’s restaurant is Fruta Mex, at 533 E. Landis Avenue. Sample authentic ethnic cuisine; keep our business climate healthy.
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A further reminder to go to the home page of our website— TheAve.biz—for links to initiatives to help our local businesses during these hard economic times.
Main Street Vineland is here to help. In the spirit of social distancing and respecting the safety of our staff, our office is currently closed to walk-in public though we are still working every day. We pass this information along to our businesses every Thursday on POP 99.9 FM, Channel 22, and on Facebook Live on facebook.com/popfm999, as well as TheAve.biz and facebook.com/mainstreetvineland.
