Westford Joins Acton, Neighboring Towns To Help Small Businesses

WESTFORD, MA — Westford has joined four other towns in an effort to support small businesses affected by the pandemic.

“The Town of Westford is pleased to announce this program for grants of up to $10,000 for eligible microenterprise businesses and look forward to helping these businesses continue to operate during these unprecedented times,” Westford Town Manager Ross said in a statement. “These businesses are part of our community, and are vital to retaining our uniqueness.”

The funding, which was provided to the state from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was made available for communities to apply for to help start up these programs at the local level. The Town of Acton will serve as the lead for the program, as it was awarded $1.6 million in Community Development Block Grant coronavirus funding through TRI, The Resource, Inc. The funding is part of a micro-enterprise forgivable loan program.

This program will provide eligible businesses a one-time grant of up to $10,000 to help cover costs such as rent, staffing and utilities. This grant will be for small businesses with five or fewer employees (including any owners), whose owner or owners meet low to moderate household income qualification as designated by United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in Westford and Acton as well as Boxborough, Littleton and Maynard.

For more information and to see if your business qualifies as a microbusiness, head to www.trimicroeloans.org and choose the Acton Boxborough tab for the pre-application questionnaire.

Once submitted you will receive an email with further instructions. Pre-applications are reviewed on a first come, first served basis.