The Back to Business Mississippi Grant Program will be open to small businesses with 50 employees or less using funds from the CARES Act. Businesses can apply for up to 25 thousand dollars for expenses related to COVID-19. Governor Tate Reeves says there are two ways to calculate how much a business can receive. He says “You can get a base payment of $1,500 plus $500 for every employee. Or, you can go through and actually submit receipts for all COVID-19 related expenses.”
Reeves says those expenses can include items like masks, extra cleaning supplies, rent, payroll or utilities. He says the money can not be used to replace lost revenue. “This is not money that you have to pay back. We’ve got $40,000,000 set aside for minority-owned business and women-owned businesses for the early days to make sure they get their fair share.”
Governor Reeves says he wants to remind residents that the coronavirus is still a threat, but the state’s economy is also in danger. The executive order that takes effect Monday will lift the current 10 p.m. curfew for places that serve alcohol as long as they “do their best” to reduce customer capacity to 50%, Reeves said Wednesday.
The new order will also allow fitness centers and gyms to increase their customer capacity from 25% to 50%. Reception halls will also be able to open at 50% capacity. Starting Monday, arenas can host events with no greater than 25% capacity. Reeves announced government entities will resume normal business operations no later than July 1.
Governor Reeves says “I want COVID-19 to be over, but the data suggests otherwise. What these changes in our Safe Return Order do indicate is that we recognize the cost of continued shutdowns and we recognize the cost of heavy regulations.”
The state has already sent out over 21 million dollars of CARES Act funds to businesses that were forced to close because of COVID-19.
