Cecil County Government: Economic Development Introduces Online Sales & Telework Grant Round 2

Press release from Cecil County Government:

10/07/2021

Economic Development Introduces

Online Sales & Telework Grant Round 2

Elkton, MD: Beginning Monday, October 11, the Cecil County Office of Economic Development (CCOED) will be accepting applications for the County’s Online Sales & Telework Grant Round 2. Cecil County received $85,136 from the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority Fund to help local businesses establish or expand online sales and telework. The amount of individual grant awards will be determined by the total number of qualified applicants.

The grant funds can be used to cover costs incurred after March 2020 associated with online sales and/or telework. Examples of allowable uses of funds include, but is not limited to:  

• Expansion to e-commerce platform 
• Website development 
• Hardware or software costs
• Home office equipment for remote work capability (i.e., cell phones, laptops, printers, etc.)

“As with all of our prior relief grants, we are excited to have more funding to help our small business community,” said Steven Overbay, Director of the Office of Economic Development. “Our goal is to get the relief funds into the hands of as many businesses as quickly as possible.”

To qualify, the business must: 

• Have been established prior to March 9, 2020;
• Currently be in operation;
• Be registered and in good standing with Maryland SDAT;
• Have a physical location within Cecil County, MD; and
• Not currently be in default on any loans from Cecil County or delinquent on any taxes, fees, or other charges owed to Cecil County.  

“Thankfully, our small businesses have done a tremendous job weathering COVID, however many are still in recovery mode,” said County Executive Danielle Hornberger. “This grant will continue to support recovery by helping our businesses cover some of their expenses related to online sales and telework.”

Prior to applying, applicants should carefully review the eligibility criteria and read through the Frequently Asked Questions found at www.cecilbusiness.org. The fillable application form can also be downloaded at www.cecilbusiness.org. The grant opens at 8:00 a.m. (EST) on Monday, October 11, 2021. Applications will NOT be accepted prior to this time. The deadline to apply is 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 25, 2021. Submission of an incomplete or inaccurate application may result in ineligibility for program funding. If you have carefully reviewed the program eligibility guidelines and determined your business does not qualify for this funding source, please visit https://govstatus.egov.com/md-coronavirus-business to be redirected to the State of Maryland’s Coronavirus Information for Business website. This site is updated with new information frequently and features federal and state funding programs as well as the Maryland Unemployment Insurance portal.

If assistance is needed with assessing eligibility or compiling the needed documents for the application, please first consult with your financial or legal advisers. You may also email questions to covidreliefquestions@ccgov.org.

For media inquiries, please contact Kevin Alkinburg at kalkinburg@ccgov.org or 410-996-8454.

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This press release was produced by Cecil County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.