Local business advocacy organization Love Live Local has collaborated with the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District to start the Cape Cod Resilience Fund, which will provide direct grants to small business owners on Cape Cod to offer relief from challenging economic conditions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Created in response to effects of the governor’s strict guidelines for business operations on the region’s small business community, the goal was to launch the Cape Cod Resilience Fund to give Cape Codders an opportunity to donate to help support small businesses and to provide them some relief, said Love Live Local CEO Amanda Converse.
“Businesses and their employees are making huge sacrifices in the name of public health,” said Converse,, “and limited financial assistance from the state and federal governments coupled with an uncertain outlook for the future are likely to mean lasting negative impacts for our local business community.”
The Cape Cod Resilience Fund will issue one-time grants of $500 to $2,000 to eligible Cape Cod small businesses to supplement day-to-day operational expenses such as rent, staff, supplies, inventory, marketing and training. Preference will be given to year-round, community-minded, brick and mortar businesses located in a downtown area. Applications will be available in early June.
All donations are tax deductible through the Hyannis Main Street BID’s nonprofit arm the Downtown Hyannis Community Development Corporation, but the BID’s Executive Director Elizabeth Wurfbain emphasized that businesses across Cape Cod are eligible to receive grants from the fund.
The Cape Cod Resilience Fund has pledged to raise $100,000 before mid-June. “We feel that would make a significant impact on the Cape’s local business community,” said Converse
Love Live Local and the BID’s efforts have been supported by a coalition of local business organizations including chambers of commerce in Brewster, Chatham, Harwich, Hyannis, Mashpee, Orleans and Provincetown.
For more information, visit lovelivelocal.com/resilience
