Carlsbad, NM and Eddy County Work to Get CARES Act Grants to Struggling Businesses

Carlsbad, NM and Eddy County Work to Get CARES Act Grants to Struggling Businesses Main Photo

15 Dec 2020


News

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the country hard because of imposed shutdowns of businesses, and New Mexico is no exception. Small businesses, in particular, took a heavy hit during this ongoing public health emergency. The City of Carlsbad and Eddy County have been doing the best they can to provide assistance to businesses in distress using allotted CARES Act funds. This funding does not eradicate the crisis, but it provides some critical assistance to keep small businesses afloat. 

The CARES Act is a federal relief program which provided funds to states for distribution to communities. For business relief funds, local governments had to apply to the state in order for their area’s business owners to be able to then apply for New Mexico Small Business Continuity Grants. There were several aspects of the application process developed by the state legislature that were less than ideal, but the City of Carlsbad and Eddy County worked with what they were given.

This fall and early winter, Carlsbad Department of Development managed the application process for these grants. The entire staff of Carlsbad Department of Development dedicated the majority of their time to processing CARES Act applications and meeting with local businesses. They screened all 80 applications they received from the city and county. Only one business was found ineligible based on required application criteria. From the 80 applications, there were $15.5 million in total requests for expense reimbursements, with almost $13 million of those requests meeting eligibility requirements. The breakdown of eligible expenses for CARES Act funds was $10.6 million for city businesses and $2.4 million for those located outside of the city limits in the county. However, the City and County were awarded far less than these totals from the state, therefore, approximately $1.1 million will be distributed to businesses in the City of Carlsbad and $900,000 to those in Eddy County. 

This disparity between eligible requests and available funds clearly demonstrates the need for relief in the community. There are more grants available through the New Mexico Finance Authority from December 7 through noon December 18. More information can be found here.

Eligibility criteria:

Small Business CARES Relief Grants are available to New Mexico for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations with 100 or fewer employees that meet one of the following requirements:

  1. Sole proprietorship owned by a New Mexico resident, or
  2. Corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, limited liability companies or limited partnerships that are at least 51% owned by one or more New Mexico residents, or
  3. Nonprofit corporation designated as a 501(c)(3), 501(C)(6) or 501(c)(8) entity, or a 501(c) organization that serves past or present members of the Armed Forces of the United States.

Explore what Carlsbad Department of Development has to offer. Businesses moving to Carlsbad benefit from incentive, assistance, and reimbursement programs that make it easier to start, relocate or expand here: read the synopsis here

Follow Carlsbad Department of Development on Facebook.