The Albany County ARPA Small Business Grant Program
Small businesses eligible for assistance are those that experienced negative economic impacts or disproportionate impacts of the pandemic and meet the following requirements:
- Must be an existing for-profit business located in the County of Albany, NY.
- Demonstrate that they were in operation prior to March 1, 2020 and continue to be in operation upon submission of this application
- Have no more than 100 employees (full time and part time)
- At least one (1) full-time equivalent employee (including the business owner)
- Small businesses are those as defined by the Small Business Act (which includes, among other requirements, that the business is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field of operation).
- Demonstrate a sustainability plan for maintaining the business
- Be current on all taxes and fees owed to Albany County and all of its municipalities
- Must be in good standing with the County and Federal government.
- Applications must be received no later than 5PM April 7th, 2025.
Ineligible Businesses:
- Businesses not currently in operation as of the date of the application submission
- Businesses which commenced operations on or after March 1, 2020
- Businesses that have already received any ARPA funds from Albany County
- Banks and/or financial institutions
- Franchises or chain businesses
- Businesses temporarily or permanently closed due to illegal activity
- Businesses engaged in illegal activity
- Nonprofit organizations, churches, etc.
- Businesses not in good standing with the County or Federal government
Examples of negative impacts to small businesses incurred due to the COVID pandemic include:
- Decreased revenue or gross receipts
- Financial insecurity
- Increased costs
- Capacity to weather financial hardship
- Challenges covering payroll and rent
- Mortgage, and other operating costs
Financial assistance to small businesses can be used for the following enumerated purposes:
- Loans or grants to mitigate financial hardship, such as by supporting payroll and benefits, costs to retain employees, and mortgage, rent, utility, and other operating costs
- Technical assistance, counseling, or other services to support business planning
- Rent, utilities and other everyday costs
- Awarded funds MAY NOT be used to pay taxes, fees, or any other payments due to Albany County and its municipalities
Application Grading Criteria – applications will be graded based on the following:
- Overall quality of the application and narrative for use of funds
- Greater consideration will be given to those businesses that can demonstrate greatest negative impacts from COVID and economic shutdown
- Greater consideration will be given to those businesses who have not already received some form of COVID-related government assistance
- Greater consideration will be given to the smallest of businesses
- Greater consideration will be given to certified veteran-owned businesses or MWBEs
- Greater consideration will be given to businesses operating within a qualified census tract (economically disadvantaged)
- Greater consideration given to those leveraging outside, non-county sources of funds
- Sustainability of future business activities in the County of Albany
For questions on eligibility or anything else related to this application, please contact the Community Loan Fund at (518) 436-8586 or via email at info@mycommunityloanfund.org.
