Limited help is on the way for Regina businesses facing hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The business recovery grant (BRG) is seeking to put $2 million in matched funds into the hands of businesses, community organizations, not-for-profits and other groups.
The grants doled out in phase one of the BRG will be for $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000. Phase one runs until Dec. 31 of this year with the express intent of helping businesses to pay for costs associated with the pandemic, but not salaries.
According to Mayor Michael Fougere, the money is intended to go toward paying for personal protective equipment for staff and customers, installing barricades or other safety measures, and the transition to zero-contact, curbside or other forms of delivery and e-commerce.
“Since the onset of COVID-19 there’s been lots of changes in our society; lots things changed and may never come back to they way they used to be,” said the mayor during a press conference on Monday.
Following the outbreak of the virus many stores and businesses transitioned to online services or delivery services which were previously not offered.
The initial proposal for relief came from the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hopkins. Hopkins initially sought a 25-per-cent reduction to non-residential property taxes in the city. As the proposal made its way through council and executive committee it changed to the current $2 million in relief. At one point the chamber was proposed to be the administrator of the grants.
“I might have been a bit too enthusiastic in terms of working with the city on it,” said Hopkins on Monday. But the chamber is still a part of the adjudication process determining who will receive grant dollars.
“It’s not going to be the be all end all for everyone,” said Hopkins. “But it will certainly help.”
Food services and the hotel industry have been significantly affected by the virus according to Hopkins, and relief there is still needed.
But not all businesses are struggling.
“Restaurant losses have been retailers’ gains, which is unfortunate. We’d be very happy for things to go back to the way they were,” said Ted Williams, owner of Pacific Fresh Fish.
Speaking from British Columbia, Williams said the store was quick to install Plexiglas at the counter and mandate customers wear gloves but not masks. Williams said he does not plan to apply for a grant since others need it more and business is good at his store.
“Our sales are up. We don’t need any help; we’re almost embarrassed by it since there are people that are really hurting,” said Williams.
As for the direct impact on business, or how many businesses have closed or are at risk of closing, Fougere and Hopkins were unable to give a figure.
“It’s hard to say; we’ll know this later this year when we have taxes due at the end of September,” said Fougere. Hopkins said anecdotally it seemed like auction companies were doing well.
The grants will roll out each week according to the city, with a maximum of 40 new applications per week and 20 successful applicants. Deborah Bryden, director of assessment and tax, said successful applicants will be decided by scoring the applicants based on a set of criteria.
“Jobs, financial stability, how they’re impacted by COVID, what their financial need is,” she said.
No preference will be given to local businesses over chains.
Stage two of the BRG will roll out in the new year and will up the grants to a maximum of $25,000 to applicants. Businesses can only apply for one grant, so the city recommends businesses time their applications appropriately.
If a business has already made improvements or changes to their operations they can still apply for assistance back to May 19, or stage two of the provincial reopening plan.