It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic had a brutal impact on most small businesses in southcentral Kentucky and beyond.

Unfortunately, some businesses didn’t survive the pandemic. Many of those that made it through benefited from government programs that offered vital financial support.

The largest of these was the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which saw the disbursement of about $800 billion in forgivable loans to American businesses

Locally, the city of Bowling Green offered its own version of a PPP program with BG CARES.

BG CARES entailed awarding grants for businesses with up to 50 employees. Grants were between $3,000 to $15,000, depending on the business size, with the funding coming from the federal CARES Act. The funds were authorized for use in a variety of ways to offset losses caused by the pandemic, such as for rent, utilities and personal protective equipment.

A recent report from the city details how BG CARES impacted local businesses

It showed that:

• $2.24 million was awarded.
• 499 Bowling Green businesses received grants.
• more than $1 million was paid out as rent payments to commercial landlords.
• 72% of the businesses had five or fewer employees.
• the biggest beneficiaries were restaurants (92), followed by personal services (91), retail (84) and medical (48). Additionally, 16 nonprofits were given grants.
• the majority of the grant funds were used for rent payments (47%), followed by utilities (22%), mortgages (17%) and PPE (14%).
• the majority of the business funded (53%) were women-, minority- or veteran-owned.

The program was a major undertaking executed in a short amount of time as city officials aimed to get the funds into the community quickly.

City staff even went out and physically handed out program applications to local businesses in an effort to get the funds out when they were most needed.

From an idea last summer, the program was able to get more than $2 million in the hands of local businesses by February.

We commend the city and the staff that worked diligently on this program for offering a vital lifeline to the local business community that is the backbone of our economy.