On the last day of the application process for the Mat-Su Borough’s fourth phase of small business and nonprofit grants from the Federal CARES Act, a little less than a quarter of they money distributed thus far has come to the Northern Susitna Valley.
As of Friday morning, the borough has awarded just over seven-and-a-half-million dollars in grants to small businesses and nonprofits that applied. Grants max out at $25,000, and more than 450 have been paid out. About 150 applications are either still being processed, were deemed incomplete, or have payments pending.
From Willow to Cantwell, about twenty-two percent of the grants, totaling more than a million-and-a-half dollars, have come to the Northern Valley. Most of those funds are accounted for by Talkeetna businesses, according to grant data sorted by ZIP code.
The Mat-Su Borough has until the end of December to decide how to spend any funds remaining from CARES Act funding. There could be a few million dollars left in what was allocated for small business and nonprofits. In addition, due to recent updates in federal guidance, the borough is canceling plans for individual grants of up to $100, which were originally scheduled to open on October 26th. About ten million dollars were set aside to fund that program.
Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Tam Boeve says the assembly has some options on the table, but that she is open to new ideas on how to spend the funds, provided they follow federal rules.
