Providing Relief for Sole Proprietors
Pictured above: Students from TrainNEK posing with the manikins bought with grant funds.
With Round 2 beginning on Monday, we take a look back to the first round of CDBG-CV funding.
There were a total of 157 people who received awards through the Sole Proprietor Stabilization Program (CDBG-CV). These 157 sole proprietors had a total unmet need of $2,314,004. The total grant award for all was $1,387,500, alleviating almost 60% of their unmet need.
The funds were administered through BDCC and TRORC. The BDCC administered the funds for the Southwest Region and TRORC administered the funds for the Northeast Region. In Windham County alone there were 22 Sole Proprietors who received a total amount of $190,000.
Two examples of recipients are Andrea Kane from Peacham and Ellen Ecker Ogden from Manchester.
Andrea Kane, from Train NEK, offers SOLO-certifying Rural and Backcountry Medicine courses. They help outdoor professionals and rural enthusiasts more fully enjoy Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom (NEK) outdoors. Andrea was able to purchase new manikins for the students to use outside and safely distanced from one another.
Nationally recognized author and lecturer Ellen Ecker Ogden, received funds to pivot her career to an online platform. Ellen’s work is focused on kitchen garden design tips and recipes delivered through newsletters, books and workshops. “As an author and lecturer, my work as a public speaker was facing an uncertain future. Thanks to the grant I received… I was able to pivot my career… I am most grateful for this opportunity” said Ellen about her experience.
About 61% of the awardees were low income, meaning their annual household income was lower than 80% of Vermont’s annual median income. Out of all the awardees 15% had a female head of household and 5% were a race other than white.
For the full report follow this link: https://arcg.is/1LqDDn0
While the awardees were chosen randomly through a lottery draw in round one, round two funds will be awarded in a first-come first-serve fashion.
The registration for the second round of the Sole Proprietor Stabilization Program (CDBG-CV) is opening on Monday April 5th.
Additionally the sole proprietors must be from a low to moderate income household, per federal guidelines, and they must have been in business prior to March 15, 2020. These are only some of the requirements, for more information about the CDBG-CV Round 2 go to https://www.vermont-cdbg-cv.com
The first round of the Sole Proprietor Stabilization program was funded through $1.5 million from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s CDBG Program, and passed through the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD).
