WEDC Announces Small Business Grant Program

Wisconsin’s small businesses have been dramatically challenged by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)’s We’re All In Small Business Grant is designed to help these small businesses get back on their feet.

HOW IT WORKS
Funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the We’re All In Small Business Grant Program will provide $2,500 to 30,000 Wisconsin small businesses to assist with the costs of business interruption or for health and safety improvements, wages and salaries, rent, mortgages and inventory.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
To be eligible, businesses must:

• Be a Wisconsin-based, for-profit business;
• Employ 20 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, including the owner;
• Earn greater than $0 but less than $1 million in annual revenues (gross sales and receipts); and
• Have started operating prior to Jan. 1, 2020, and have been in business in February 2020.

APPLICATION PERIOD
The online grant application will be accessible for one week from 8 a.m. Monday, June 15, through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 21. A link will be available at: https://wedc.org/programs-and-resources/wai-small-business-grant/

BE PREPARED
Applicants are encouraged to prepare for the one-week application period by gathering the following required documents:

2018 or 2019 federal tax return for business (If you started your business in 2020, you are not eligible for this grant). Applicable tax returns are:
IRS form 1065 Partnership Return (no K-1s required)
IRS form 1120 Corporation Return (no schedules required)
IRS form 1120S S Corporation Return (no K-1s required)
IRS form 1040 (sole proprietors) and the following:
Schedule C, Profit and Loss from Business
Signed W-9 form available at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Three-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code that best fits their business. This information may be included in a business’s tax return, or through the NAICS website: www.naics.com/naics-code-description.

A letter or email of acknowledgement from a community organization indicating your business was in operation in February 2020. The letter or email can be from any of the following:
– Chamber of commerce
– Main Street or Connect Communities organization
– Local business improvement district
– Neighborhood economic development association
– Local economic development organization such as MadREP
– County economic development organization
– Municipality, including tribal government
– County
– Local bank, credit union or community development financial institution
– Regional UW Small Business Development Center
– U.S. Export Assistance Center – Wisconsin
– Regional economic development organization
– Regional Planning Commission
– Trade association

For more information, go to the FAQ page.

MadREP is happy to write a letter of acknowledgement for small businesses in the eight-county Madison Region. Simply send a request to: jmoore@madisonregion.org.