Submitted by San Juan Economic Development Council.

The Washington State Department of Commerce, Gov. Jay Inslee’s office and the San Juan Economic Development Council announced the recipients of the Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant in San Juan County. The program was created to provide small grants to businesses with 10 or fewer employees, to help them survive the downturn caused by COVID-19.

Twenty-one businesses — on Lopez, Orcas, San Juan and Shaw — were awarded grants totaling $149,699. The grants were awarded from the governor’s emergency fund and will allow businesses to pay for essential expenses like rent. Inslee noted, “I hope this a bridge to get them to the other side.”

“In speaking with our businesses over the past two and a half months, it’s been clear they need access to capital and technical assistance to weather this storm,” EDC Director Victoria Compton said. “As a very small nonprofit, we can provide the technical assistance, but could not offer grants. We were absolutely thrilled when the Governor’s office and Commerce created this funding mechanism to support our local business owners.”

For more information on these grants and for a list of recipients, please visit https://www.sanjuansedc.org/wwsbeg-announced/.