Puyallup Gives $250K Of CARES Funds To Help Businesses, Residents

PUYALLUP, WA — The city of Puyallup is setting aside $250,000 in funding from the CARES act to help the city's struggling small businesses and non-profits during the pandemic.

The move comes about a week after Pierce County authorized the use of all their remaining CARES act funds.

Near the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government approved the $1.8 trillion CARES act to keep local economies afloat while stores were shuttered. The act gave around $158 million to Pierce County to spend on all of their communities.

Of the quarter million Puyallup City Council approved for use Wednesday, $150,000 will go to directly to grants for small businesses. To qualify, those businesses will need to spend the money on critical expenses like rent, payroll, protective equipment for employees or utilities. More information on the grants and a link to apply can be found on the city's website here. Applications are open until July 30.

The remaining $100,000 in CARES funding will be spent on social services and support programs operated by non-profits. That money will be used to help Puyallup residents pay rent or mortgages. Puyallup says they'll be outlining more about how that process will work, including which non-profits are eligible to apply, sometime later this week.