St. Louis County Government: St. Louis County Invests More Than 23 Million In CARES Act Funding To Help Small Businesses

Press release from the St. Louis County Government:

May 24, 2021

This release is part of a series focusing on the people, businesses, and organizations that benefited from the $173 million St. Louis County received through the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act passed by the United States Congress on May 27, 2020.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY ‐ County Executive Dr. Sam Page committed funding from the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act to support small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The County distributed more than $23 million in grant funding to the small business community.

“We know that our small businesses have been hurt by this pandemic,” Dr. Page said. “That’s why we invested more than $23 million in our small businesses, and I appreciate the Council’s partnership in the design and administration of the program. It was a great success.”

The County awarded grants to businesses with 50 or fewer employees. These funds helped more than 2,300 small businesses. The money did not have to be paid back to the County if it was used on eligible expenses. Grant money could be used to cover the following expenses:

• Rent or lease cost
• Utilities
• Mortgage cost
• Payroll paid to furloughed employees
• Cost of installing shields or barriers
• Cost of cleaning supplies
• Cost of using disposable items
• Cost of website or online payment
• Cost of establishing curbside service

One business that received a CARES grant was Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience in Ellisville.

"We are very appreciative of receiving the grant. The way we've been supported by the government, I've been very impressed. $15,000 may not sound like a lot, but to us, it's a big help," said Angel Jimenez Gutierrez, managing partner of Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience.

The County partnered with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership to help small businesses apply for the grant funding.

“Our small businesses are the anchors of our community,” St. Louis Economic Development Partnership CEO Rodney Crim said. “We were very delighted that CARES money was going toward helping small businesses.”

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership collaborated with local chambers of commerce and the County Council to spread the word about the application process to the small business community.

“We had the County Council very much involved because we asked them what businesses or what outreach we could do within their districts. We got a lot of good information from them that helped all of our small business programs throughout the County CARES process,” Crim said.

Below you can watch interviews featuring Rodney Crim, CEO of St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, and Angel Jimenez Gutierrez, Managing Partner of Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience. A second video linked here features an interview with Jay Kraus, of Kraus Farms Equestrian Center, another small business grant award recipient.

This press release was produced by the St. Louis County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.