ARP: Lincoln NE, Supporting Small Businesses
Idea Category: Jobs and Entrepreneurship | Funding Source: American Rescue Plan
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, hundreds of small businesses in Lincoln received up to $60,000 to pre-pay six months of rent or mortgage. In total, the city spent $7 million on the program.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird’s Small Business Stabilization Grants program targeted businesses with up to 50 employees. To ensure smaller businesses were not left out, $2 million of this funding was set aside to help businesses with five or fewer employees.
As of late February 2022, more than 250 small businesses received a grant, impacting more than 2800 employees, according to the mayor’s office. Daryl Dickerson, owner of Sandy’s bar, is one of the small businesses that was helped.
Dickerson said the grant “could not have come at a better time for us.” The COVID-19 Omicron wave “knocked us back quite a bit and made us seriously question the viability of our bar, or any bar for that matter, when the general public just doesn’t feel comfortable being in tight spaces with a crowd of people.”
Mayor Gaylor Baird said she is proud that the American Rescue Plan helped Lincoln support “small businesses that were disproportionately impacted” by the pandemic. She noted that those businesses “staff over 2,800 community members as employees.“
Update
Data shared by Gaylor Baird’s office shows the program has spent $7 million to support 263 small businesses, impacting more than 3000 employees.
Additionally, Gaylor Baird invested $1.2 million in utility grants to cover a year of electric and water payments for small businesses. As of February 2023, Lincoln has helped 160+ businesses, which will not receive a utility bill for the rest of the year, allowing them to hire additional staff and complete maintenance that was deferred during the pandemic.
More Idea’s From Leirion Gaylor Baird
Lincoln Mayor Gaylor Baird Announced Expansion of Workforce Initiative
Idea Category: Jobs Training, Workforce | Funding Source: ARP
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Partners With ALLO Fiber To Expand Student Connectivity & Engagement
Idea Category: Broadband, Education | Funding Source: ARP
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Touts Positive Impact of New Co-Responder Program
Idea Category: Mental Health | Funding Source: ARP
Nebraska Mayor Gaylor Baird and City Councilmember Tom Beckius Launch “Workforce Week”
Idea Category: Creating Jobs, Jobs Training, Workforce | Funding Source: ARP
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Broke Ground on City’s First Permanent Supportive Housing Location
Idea Category: Addressing Homelessness, Housing | Funding Source: ARP
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Announced Expansion of City Heat Pump Program
Idea Category: Climate Change | Funding Source: ARP
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Announced Mental Health Crisis Calls Partnership
Idea Category: Mental Health, Public Safety | Funding Source: ARP
ARPA Case Study: Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Paves the Way for New Water Source Project
Idea Category: American Rescue Plan Act, Funding, Public Safety | Funding Source: ARP
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird Offers 26-Step Plan to Ensure Local Food Sustainability
Idea Category: Jobs and Entrepreneurship | Funding Source: ARP
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird: New Plan to Boost Local Food System in Lincoln
Idea Category: Smart Government | Funding Source: ARP
ARP: Lincoln NE, New Workforce Training Opportunities
Idea Category: Jobs and Entrepreneurship | Funding Source: ARP
Fostering a Welcoming Community for Immigrants
Idea Category: Equity & Opportunity | Funding Source: ARP
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