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During the first week of the CARES Restart Business Grants Program, 80 local eligible companies have been issued a total of $1,365,612. Department of Housing and Economic Sustainability began accepting online entries on Friday, May 22 and has received 3,961 applications. CARES Restart Business Grants Program was approved on May 19, 2020 by the BCC to accelerate the reopening process for businesses directly impacted by Executive Orders for COVID-19.

The $60 million Restart Business Program uses a portion of the county's $261 million allocation from the Federal CARES Act approved by Congress.  The BCC has dedicated $50 million toward businesses with 25 or fewer employees and $10 million toward businesses with greater than 25 employees.

The program guidelines, including eligibility criteria, are currently posted on the County's website. The BCC gave approval for individual grants up to $25,000 to help Palm Beach County businesses forced to close or limit operations and are now planning to "restart" based on the county's phased opening process. Currently, there are 24 local businesses that have been issued the full $25,000 grant.

Interested businesses are encouraged to apply for the Restart Business grant as they are processed on a first come, first eligible basis. Required documents include a fully executed application from the county's online portal, certifications, affirmations and acknowledgements, tax returns, payroll reports, an active Palm Beach County Business Tax Receipt and an active registration on SunBiz. These documents will be required to be uploaded into the system by the applicant.

Application Summary as of June 1

Partners involved to process CARES grants include Palm Beach County's Departments of Housing and Economic Sustainability, Purchasing, Office of Equal Business Opportunity and the Clerk and Comptroller.