CLEARFIELD – Clearfield County is expecting over $897,000 to bring financial relief to eligible businesses in the county’s hospitality industry.
The state’s COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP) will allocate $145 million in funding assistance to the hospitality industry businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program requires counties to establish grant programs for eligible businesses. Grant funds provided to counties will be awarded to eligible businesses to alleviate revenue losses and pay eligible operating expenses due to the pandemic.
The county will contract with one or more Certified Economic Development Organizations or Community Development Financial Institutions, which in turn will disburse the funding through grant agreements with eligible businesses.
On Tuesday, the Clearfield County Commissioners approved an administration agreement with the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning & Development Commission for disbursement of grant funding, once received.
Each county will receive an amount based on population proportion, and according to Commissioner Dave Glass, Clearfield County is eligible for $897,671 for local hotels, restaurants and bars, etc.
Eligible applicants must be “hospitality” industry businesses that have a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) designation with the Accommodation subsector (721) or Food Services and Drinking Places subsector (722).
Eligible business will be required to:
- have fewer than 300 full-time equivalent employees;
- have a maximum tangible net worth of not more than $15 million;
- have been in operation Feb. 15, 2020, and remain in operation with no intention to permanently cease operations within one year of the date of application; and
- show how COVID-19 has had an adverse economic impact on the eligible business, which makes the grant request necessary to support the ongoing operations.
Applications from eligible businesses within the counties will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the county’s CHIRP funds have been exhausted or by the date of June 15, whichever occurs first.
Glass said the county will make an application available to eligible businesses to apply for CHIRP funding through the commission by March 15. Additional information will be released at a later date.
In other business, the commissioners:
- authorized the advertisement of bids for ballot printing for the May 18 Municipal Primary.
- approved a lease addendum with River Bend Properties for the office of Magisterial District Judge Mike Morris.
- approved copier lease agreements with DBB.
- approved a collaboration agreement with Peerstar LLC.
- approved a care coordination agreement and Memorandum of Understanding with CenClear.
- approved a rental agreement with Tri-County Church, Clearfield, for the court’s use of the facility for preliminary hearings for non-incarcerated individuals on Wednesdays.
- approved one new hire, two employee separations/retirements and one employee transfer.
- approved the minutes of the Feb. 9 board meeting as presented by the chief clerk.
- approved the bills as presented by the Controller’s office.