PIVOT Grant Applications Open For Fairfax County Businesses

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Applications opened Wednesday for Fairfax County's PIVOT recovery grants, aimed to help business types most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $25 million grant program approved by the Board of Supervisors will take applications from qualifying businesses through 11:59 p.m. on July 9. Businesses in the following categories can apply: food Service (including food trucks); retail, services and amusements; arts organizations, museums and historical sites; and lodging. Funding come from the county's allocation of federal American Rescue Plan funds.

The grants will provide businesses with capital for operations and to sustain business sectors. Businesses must be located in Fairfax County, including the towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton. There must be a commercial storefront, and no home-based or online-only businesses will be considered. Businesses must be open or temporarily closed, planning to reopen by Aug. 31, 2021, and have a valid Business and Professional License from the county.

A small business grant program was one of the recommendations of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority's Economic Recovery Framework report. The report found the estimated 48,200 jobs lost through December 2020 were concentrated in the retail, hospitality, and food service industries.

Small businesses have been particularly hit hard in the DC region. According to a Fairfax County news release, 45 percent of small businesses in the DC metropolitan area have temporarily or permanently closed due to the pandemic, and those remaining open have significant revenue declines. Around 50 percent of Fairfax County's 2020 job losses were in these business sectors: accommodation and food services; retail and other services; and arts and entertainment.

The grand administrator will be the Latino Economic Development Center, which has experience in supporting small businesses and nonprofits in many sectors, as well as administering large-scale grant programs and providing technical assistance and capital financing.

The county's 2020 COVID-19 small business grant program provided $52.5 million in grants to 4,804 applicants, 72 percent of which were women-owned, minority-owned, or veteran-owned businesses.

More information on eligibility and applying is available on the PIVOT grant website.