NEWS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR Contact: Kelsey Nyland, Kelsey.Nyland@seattle.gov Mayor Jenny Durkan Announces Initial 250 Grantees of the Small Business Stabilization Fund, Calls on Private Sector and Philanthropy to Help Support Future Grants Office of Economic Development Received Nearly 9,000 Applications for the Fund; Comcast Donates $50,000 to Support Next Round of Small Business Stabilization Fund SEATTLE (April 12, 2020) – Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced the initial 250 grantees of the City’s $2.5 million Small Business Stabilization Fund. The fund provides $10,000 grants to small businesses financially impacted by COVID-19. Nearly 9,000 small businesses applied for the first round of the City’s Small Business Stabilization Fund, demonstrating that the need goes far beyond what the City can provide without further support from the private sector, philanthropic partners and economic relief from the federal government. Cities across the country, including San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York City, have reached out to learn more about the Stabilization Fund and try to replicate this model in their own communities. On April 1, Mayor Durkan signed into law her legislation to ensure the City of Seattle can accept donations, including for initiatives like supporting small businesses through stabilization funding and for families via food vouchers. Comcast has donated $50,000 to address the urgent need for future rounds of the Stabilization Fund. This investment will help ensure the Office of Economic Development (OED) can continue providing direct capital assistance to small business owners struggling to support their employees and stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interested individuals and organizations can donate to the Stabilization Fund by emailing covidpledge@seattle.gov. “At the City, we’re doing everything we can locally to support our small businesses and workers during this unprecedented moment in history. Working together in the early days of this crisis, we quickly created this $2.5 million Small Business Stabilization Fund, which has become a model for cities across our country. With nearly 9,000 small businesses applying to the first round of the Stabilization Fund, it’s clear that the need far outweighs what the City can provide to our small businesses,” said Mayor Durkan. “I am grateful to Comcast for their commitment to help fund further rounds of the Stabilization Fund and support the small businesses that make Seattle the best city in the country. I urge all those who are able to support future rounds of this fund, and also support our small businesses by ordering pickup, delivery, or shopping online during this unprecedented time. While we to do everything we can at the City level to support small businesses, I will continue to advocate at the state and federal level to ensure our region receives the economic relief we need, both now and as we recover.” The $2.5 million expanded Small Business Stabilization Fund is funded by federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The federal government requires eligible CDBG small business awardees to have five employees or less and for the business owner to be at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income. In addition, the Mayor directed OED to focus outreach on historically underserved small businesses, and nearly 80 percent of the 250 grantees identify as small business owners of color. After screening for eligibility, businesses were categorized as being from high or low-displacement areas of the City, and then awardees from each displacement category were selected by lottery. Weighting the investments towards high-displacement risk areas allowed the City to target businesses that are more likely to experience economic shocks. OED received around 80 applications when the department launched the first Stabilization Fund back in January 2020. “The city’s initial investment in the Small Business Stabilization Fund is being used by micro-businesses to support their employees and to ensure they can stay in business during this crisis. We hope these grants give Seattle’s small businesses a lifeline, so they can re-open quickly once the immediate crisis is over and be part of the city’s recovery," said Councilmember Andrew J. Lewis, and member of the Small Business Recovery Task Force. “The city’s grants to micro-businesses will help buffer the crisis, but the city must do more to ensure local businesses can remain in their storefronts and are not pushed out during this crisis. When we keep local businesses in place, it means we can keep dollars and jobs in the local economy, which in turn builds community wealth,” said Councilmember Tammy J. Morales, a member of the Small Business Recovery Task Force. “I want to thank the Office of Economic Development for moving quickly to distribute these grants, and am hopeful the next round of grants, including those provided by our private partners, will focus on micro-businesses owned by minorities and immigrants and refugees.” “Villa Escondida is a family-owned restaurant, and we are proud to support our local community and economy here in Belltown,” said Jose Perez, Owner of Villa Escondida. “Our small business was hit hard when many downtown workers began to work from home. This grant from the City will help us keep our staff on payroll and will help us increase our marketing to get more takeout and delivery orders.” “I am incredibly proud of my OED team, including those from other departments who lent their time and energy towards this effort. What normally takes months, sometimes years, to develop and perfect, our team dedicated themselves to complete in a matter of weeks. This dedication comes from a sense of community and solidarity with business owners who are working people just like us. Though our funds were limited, we saw firsthand the kind of impact these grants can make - from being able to pay staff to simply keeping families afloat who relied on their business for household income. This would not have been possible without the small business development team who boldly paved the way towards a new way of thinking about how we support our communities,” said OED Small Business Development director Pedro Gomez. “We recognize the important role that small businesses play in our economy and our community. Now more than ever they need our support and we are pleased to do our part,” said Rodrigo Lopez, Regional Senior Vice President of the Comcast Washington region. “We also know that internet service is essential and are working hard every day to ensure that our network is helping both businesses and residents across of our community keep connected.” The City also recently launched the #SupportSeattleSmallBiz map, which helps residents find small businesses providing takeout or delivery in their neighborhood. The map allows users to search for open small businesses in their neighborhood and navigate directly to a business’ website or third-party delivery service page. As of April 8, 1,198 small businesses are included in the map, which has been viewed 185,000 times. If you’re a business owner interested in adding your information to the #SupportSeattleSmallBiz map, please contact the City at supportsmallbiz@seattle.gov. Mayor Durkan and the City of Seattle have worked to implement a series of actions that support artists, nonprofits, small businesses, and workers, including: • Deferring utility payments for customers impacted by COVID-19; • Implementing a temporary moratorium on residential, small business, and nonprofit evictions to provide relief for working people financially impacted by COVID-19; • Creating temporary restaurant loading zones to facilitate curbside pickup at restaurants; • Announcing a small business relief package that included deferred business taxes and a stabilization fund; • Creating a new Arts Recovery Package to provide immediate financial relief to artists and cultural organizations that have been impacted by COVID-19; • Providing 6,250 Seattle families with $800 in grocery vouchers; • Providing rent relief to tenants of City-owned facilities; and • Partnering with United Way of King County and King County to invest $5 million in rental assistance to help families stay in their homes. The full list of grantees for the initial round of the Small Business Stabilization Fund are listed below: 30 Minute Hit Dante’s Inferno Dogs Lashes a la Mode A DJ and a Cook AAMCO Transmissions of Seattle Abdul Gafoor's Halal Meat & Deli Ace Barbershop Acme Barbershop Adarash Market Addis Market Al Shukri Bakery Dao’s Kitchen Lily´s Salvadorean Catering Roq La Rue Gallery Rose's & Siga African Hair Braiding DeliNoMore Lisa Tsujikawa Noji Inc S&S 23 Beauty salon Delish Ethiopian Cuisine Detour Espresso Dim Sum House Inc Diva Nails Dong Thap Noodles East African Grocery El Parche Colombiano Restaurant Emazing Photography Emma’s BBQ EriStar Building Maintenance LLC Ernesto Ybarra Original Art F Rock Clothing Lou Henry Hoover LT Design Lucke By Keisha Lucky Chinese Restaurant Luna Azul Luso Food & Wine S/T Hooligans Sabando Design Sabor Delicioso Safari Njema Restaraunt Salon 206 Salon Adidez LLC Madison Avenue Salon Magus Books Mala & Satay Salon Filament Salon Nouveau SD Computer Repair Inc Maleda Grocery & Deli Mama Luna LLC Market Magic & Novelty Inc Seattle Tailor SELEUŠS Chocolates Sell Phone Store All in the Cut Barbershop Alyssa McCowan, Barber Ambakity Cocina Mexicana Amina Family Childcare Amy's Merkato An Nam Pho Andro Barbershop Fade Master Arcaro Boxing Gym Ascend Nail Lounge Fancy Fine Tuning Frank's Barber and Beauty Salon French Mornings Preschool Full Tilt Columbia City Geni's Ethiopian Corner Girls Gone BBQ Golden Daisy Restaurant Golden Nails & Spa Greenfire Products Gyro's Place Hairapy by Natalia Haircare by Asyah Hamdi Home Daycare HardWok Cafe Asian Star Asian Street Food Athena's Food Truck Athina Grill Atlantis Studio & Gallery Baja Tacos and Beer Baltimore Barbershop Bamboo Thai Cuisine Bambu Desserts and Drinks Bananas Grill Basil Viet Kitchen Beacon Hill Drycleaners BeanFish Belltown Romios Pizza & Pasta Marrakesh Moroccan Restaurant of Seattle Serenity Housekeeping LLC Massive Monkees Studio: The Beacon Seward Park Market McComb Sound Shear Finesse Barbershop Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant Milan Hair & Spa Mimi's Bakery & Flower Mjod Enterprises Modern Japanese Cuisine Moe Vegan MoMo's Kebab Moonlit Beauty and Wellness Moxie Beauty Boutique Mr. Lu Seafood & Burger Mystic Kombucha Najla Family Child Care Nam Phuong Book Store Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery Simply Soulful Sirena AGLW LLC Slice Box Pizzas SoleMates Somtam Thai St Andrews Bar & Grill Studio Stu SugarPill Sunset Café & Deli Swift Hair Removal T. Brooks Quality Cuts Tan Dinh Deli Tango Enterprises Inc. Taqueria Tehuacan Teriyaki & Wok Big Tuna Bilal Mini Market Hare Salon Hawaii General Store & Travel Hella Happy Bissell Barber Blue Heron Cafe Blue Nile Restaurant Bodytonic Pilates Hello Bicycle Hi B3ar Hill’s Barbershop Hive BE Salon Boru Childcare Broadway Nails By’s Drive In Hoang Lan Holy Cow Records Hood Famous Café & Bar BZ Port Trucking Cafe Avole Cafe Banh Mi Cafe Ibex Cafe Opla Café Racer Hue Ky Mi Gia I Corp Image Corporation Intermezzo Salon & Spa International Examiner International Model Toys Iris Cutler LLC Neptune Furniture New Century Tea Gallery NextLevel Personal Training Studio Northwest Wushu Academy Oaktree Teriyaki Old Habits Barbershop Olympia Il Pizza and Spaghetti House O'Malley Photographers Othello Station Pharmacy Palacia Chamberlain Lee Salon Pam's Kitchen Pasta Joe's Peter Pan Auto Glass Pho Ba Pho Hai Yen Cafe Red Ironsteak Pho Hanoi Restaurant Cafe Soleil Canton Noodle House J Styles Barbershop Jalanne Family Childcare Pioneer Square D&E Platinum Cuts and Salon Taqueria El Rincon Express Teriyaki Plus Teriyaki Time Thai Curry Simple Thai Star Thai Taste Thanh Thanh Cafe That Brown Girl Cooks! The Postman The Station Coffee Shop The Uncommon Cottage Thien Phat Restaurant Time Bistro Timothy De Clue Collection Town Electric, Plumbing & Heating LLC Trevino Beauty Collaborative TTTI Services CDFD Childcare Central Barber Shop CHATIME Jana Designs Jasmine Thai Restaurant JoJo Hair Salon Platinum Plush Fashions Poke Plus Poke Square Che Dessert Lounge Joseph's Elite Image Print Fusion Chuan BBQ Citra Classy Beauty School Clover Art Coco's Cuts and Colors Columbia City Fitness Center Jose's Taqueria Julie's Garden Restaurant Juneau Street market Juneau Street market K O Fitness Kawaii Nail Publishing Desk LLC Rachel Huss Hair Rain Cafe Rainier Teriyaki Reality Auto Sales Red Bowl Columbia City Preschool Combat Arts Academy of Seattle Dandylion Restaurant Kendi Studio Relish U DupBop VAM Studios, LLC Van Karma Villa Escondida Mexican Restaurant Warren Moy Motorsports, Inc. We Free Hearts LLC Where Ya At Whole Body Health Winning Edge Academy Yummy House Bakery Zaytuna Mediterranean Catering Kitchen Istanbul L. Mariee Boutique Resistencia Coffee Robin Rosell Salon Zheng Cafe Ziba LLC ###