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Small hospitality businesses now have until Nov. 18 to apply for COVID-19 aid

Travis Dickinson, co-owner of Cochinito Taqueria delivers a tray of tacos to a table of customers, Mon., Oct. 26, 2020. The restaurant has had to reduce its hours and lay people off to survive. A grant designed to help local restaurants, hotels and event venues has been extended two days.  (Rebecca White / The Spokesman-Review)
By Rebecca White rebeccawh@spokesman.com(509) 459-5039

Restaurants, hotels and event venues now have until Wednesday to apply for COVID-19 aid grants to help pay for elevated costs caused by the pandemic.

The deadline for the grant application was originally set for Monday but was extended two days after Gov. Jay Inslee announced new COVID-19 restrictions.

Small businesses in the food service, arts, entertainment, accommodation and recreation sectors are eligible for grants of up to $20,000 though all applicants may not receive the full amount.

Only businesses with 249 or fewer employees are eligible for the grant designed for businesses the most heavily impacted by COVID-19 related closures.

The grant pool has a total of $10 million in funding available for hospitality-related businesses.

The grant is funded by Spokane County’s allotment of the federal CARES Act and can be spent only on costs that are related to COVID-19.

Those expenses include payroll, rent, personal protection equipment and safety and sanitation upgrades or equipment.

The funding was approved by the Spokane County Commissioners in October. The money will be dispersed to grant recipients in December.

The Spokane County Hospitality Relief Grant is administered by Greater Spokane Incorporated and the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce.

More information about the grant can be found at SpokaneHospitalityGrant.com. Questions can be emailed to grantinfo@spokanevalleychamber.org.

More information is available by calling (509) 924-4994.Rebecca White can be reached at (509) 459-5039 or at rebeccawh@spokesman.com.