Fourth round of Working Washington grants open

Businesses can apply for the latest round of Working Washington small business grants from the Washington State Department of Commerce. Applications will be open until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 9.

This is the fourth in a series of grants. The last grant application opened November 30, 2020.

This round of grants will prioritize businesses that needed to close under governor Jay Inslee’s Roadmap to Recovery plan, according to a state department of commerce media release on the new grants. Grants will also be prioritized to businesses that incurred additional expenses to operate safely in the pandemic. Grants will be allocated throughout the state, as well as to businesses operated by people who have been historically disadvantaged, defined by the state commerce as minorities, women, veterans, and LGBTQ+.

Hard costs such as rent, utilities payroll and PPE will be the main focus of the grants, according to the state department of commerce’s media release.

Businesses must use the grant for money spent between March 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Grants will not exceed $25,000.

Agriculture grants are also in the works. These grants will be available for small-scale shellfish growers, farmers markets, agritourism such as pumpkin patches, and small breweries, wineries and other distilleries.

To apply for the grants and for more information, visit commercegrants.com. For people who need application help in Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, Amharic, Arabic and Tagalog, call 206/333-0720 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1-6 p.m. Saturday through Sunday. More information on the agriculture grants will become available at bit.ly/2QSNSVK.