More than 30 Franklin small businesses will benefit from about $200,000 in government aid as they recover from financial losses over the last three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The city received funding through the Indiana Office of Rural and Community Affairs’ (OCRA) COVID-19 Response Program, according to a City of Franklin news release.
Gov. Eric Holcomb last month signed an executive order allowing OCRA to distribute Community Development Block Grants to help communities hit hardest by the financial fallout of the pandemic. Each local government in Indiana had the ability to apply for up to $250,000, according to the state.
Franklin and Edinburgh were among 49 additional communities to receive funding through the program.
The Franklin grant program is aimed to help business owners with a more broad range of expenses not covered by a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, such as rent and everyday expenses.
In total, 41 Franklin businesses applied for $279,404, and 36 of those businesses received at least partial funding. Most of the businesses that applied received full funding based on the decisions of a six-member committee that scored applications.
Businesses qualified if they had at least 51% of the jobs they retained as low-to-moderate income. Overall, 125 jobs were retained, with 57.6% being low-to-moderate income. The maximum grant amount was for $7,500, according to the news release.
To qualify for funding, businesses also had to have 15 or fewer employees, been in business for at least six months and prove they have been significantly impacted by COVID-19, the news release said.
The amount of funding each business received was based on scoring, determined by various questions sent to business owners, said Krista Linke, Franklin’s community development director.
"With the score sheet we used, there were 100 points possible and there were categories based on the information the application asked for," Linke said.
Questions included how greatly the business was impacted by COVID-19, and how well they tried to adapt.
"There were a lot of different criteria, including were they required to close or were they partially closed, and have they received other funding," she said.
The Franklin Development Corporation also contributed $50,000 toward six local businesses: Brian Leslie Salon, Center for Global Impact, Coffeehouse Five, Farm Girl Mercantile, Franklin Heritage, which owns the Artcraft Theatre, and the Jefferson Street Pub, according to the news release.
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Here is a look at which Franklin businesses received COVID-19 relief money:
- #1 Nails and Spa
- 10 Pins
- A Trophy Business
- Alicia Tisdale Salon
- Athens Restaurant
- Blackbird Nest
- Blue Iris Optometry
- Brick Street Boutique
- Classique Hair Styling
- DJ’s Sweet Retreat
- Eclectic Jade
- Emerald Collective
- Frank’s Guitars
- Generation Art & Frame
- Hagan Auto Sales
- JP Parker Flowers
- LeRose Dance Academy
- Middle Davids Candles
- 1823 Bakehouse
- The Mint
- Possibilities
- RFD Franklin
- Richard’s Brick Oven Pizza
- Salvage Sisters
- Canary Creek Cinemas
- Tagalong Farms
- Toodleydoo Toys
- Tranter Racing Engines
- Vintage Whimsy
- Wild Root Salon
Source: City of Franklin
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