31 Pasco Business Owners Meet with City Leaders About COVID-19 Business Loans

                                          Watch as city leaders explain how loans will work 

31 business owners packed the downtown plaza across from El Torito grocery store near 5th and Lewis street  in Pasco Wednesday night to meet with Pasco City Manager David Zabel and Community Development Director Rick White. The pair came to talk about block grant funding available through HUD and the CARES Act - that will provide nearly 2 million dollars to struggling business owners.

“The block grant monies are the easiest for people to obtain but they have a lot of rules but we know what those rules are,” said White.

White took questions from 31 separate business owners who came to get answers on how the money will be dispersed, what are the rules to get qualified and how much would each person receive. White says the HUD money will be broken into two parts. 

“We have about 430,000 dollars to use for business relief for the block grant money and bout 500,000 dollars to use for rental assistance for tenants at residential properties.” said White. 

White says in addition to $930,000 from HUD, nearly one million dollars of federal money will be available to business owners through CARES Act. The act was passed by congress to help business owners get back on their feet. 

SOME OF THE RULES FOR OBTAINING A $10,000 GRANT

·                 The grants caps out at 10,000 dollars

·       Business must show  how much revenue they’ve lost during the pandemic.

·       Must show tax returns and bank statements to show loss of revenue

·       You may be able to apply for business and residential assistance

·       Business and residential are separate funds and can’t be used for the same expenses

·       City thinks it will take about a week to start accepting applications and processing the grants.

·       SBA Loans have nothing to do with these grants, those are for payroll assistance.

·       The limit is 0-20 employees for the business grants

·       You have to be low to moderate income in order to qualify for first the rental assistance.

·           You must live in Pasco or rental assistance and for the business assistance you must have a store front in Pasco

·       Must have a business license.

David Cortinas, owner of La Voz newspaper and organizer of the event says he wants to help these business owners through the challenging times. "I'm here to help facilitate these folks through this. Most of them have never navigated the grant process. As business owners we need to unite and that's why I'm here," said Cortinas.

 Cortinas has also resurrected the Latin Business Association. The group is comprised of the 31 business owners who showed up Wednesday night to meet with city leaders. Cortinas says he plans to build bridges with DPDA, city leaders and anyone who needs help during this time. "I'm hoping to step away from the president role once the organizations is running smoothly. We want to work with Gustavo Gutierrez at DPDA, the Pasco Chamber and TRIDEC to make this a great community. This is a great first start. I'm not sure if we will be the ones handling the loans but that's not what's important. The important thing is we are coming together to make a difference," said Cortinas.

 The city says application could begin as early as next Thursday. But right now it's too soon to say exactly when the application process will start. The forms will be availalbe on the city's website. LBA will also post the information to their social media platforms. 

 As for Rick White he told the crowd he is anxious to help them through this time. "We are here to help and ready to work with business owners to get you through this time," said White. 

 For more information about the LBA contact 509-539-2752 or lbatricities@gmail.com