More than 200 hospitality businesses in York County are staying afloat with the help of a state COVID-19 recovery grant.Businesses in the county are receiving a combined $6.4 million.Assen Achu, who runs the Global Café at York’s Central, is among the recipients. The pandemic has been a struggle. We didn t know if we were going to make it, she said.After being shut down early on, the café reopened. We started really small and we looked at it like we were starting over – like we were a new business, Achu said.A $15,000 grant is helping the business recover. Much of it is being used to buy food and pay staff. We’re still in the process of figuring out how best to use it, Achu said.The average grant amount awarded to eligible businesses was nearly $29,000. The real take away from this is this funding was a lifeline to weather the storm, to keep these businesses in operation, and these are all the businesses that we care so deeply about because they really define our comm
More help is on the way for York County’s hospitality industry, which is struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.The pandemic took a major toll on hotels, restaurants and tourism events.“Several businesses, some restaurants, shops have had to close down permanently because they couldn t pay the bills because people couldn t come in,” said Chrissy Tobias, of Explore York.York County is receiving $5.08 million from the state’s COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program.Hospitality companies with fewer than 300 full-time employees that have lost business due to COVID-19 can apply for grants from $5,000 to $50,000. The businesses must have been in operation by or prior to Feb. 15, 2020, and still be operating now.The application process will open March 15.The funding will be administered by the York County Economic Alliance.“We don’t want this money just to sit around. We want it to go places and start doing good in the county,” Tobias said.
Luzerne County was awarded $3,595,181 from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development that will be awarded as grants to help small businesses struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns.
The county must contract with a certified economic development organization or a community development financial institution, which in turn will disburse the funding through grants to eligible businesses, Luzerne County manager David Pedri said.
Eligible businesses are Luzerne County restaurants, bars and hotels, he said.
Pedri said information will be posted at luzernecounty.org when it starts and the application window will open no later than March 15.
In all, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced Friday that the Pennsylvania Treasury has made $145 million available to help small businesses in the hospitality industry as they struggle to recover from the effects of the pandemic.