EASTON, Pa. - Northampton County Council approved a final round of grants Thursday to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
County Executive Lamont McClure said that over four rounds of grants, 766 small businesses received as much as $15,000 each to get through the pandemic. The money came out of the county s $27.6 million share of the federal CARES Act. Towns, non-profit groups such as ArtsQuest, schools including Lehigh University and the county itself also benefited.
About $10.7 million, or 39%, of the CARES funding went to businesses, McClure said at council s meeting Thursday. Our small businesses will really need that boost to help them survive, McClure said. The meeting started at 4:35 p.m., just a few minutes after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced a three-week ban on indoor dining at restaurants and other restrictions on businesses in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.