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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved to distribute more stimulus funds to businesses that were forced to close indoor operations after the county was placed into the state’s most restrictive tier (purple tier).

At a special meeting on Nov. 25, the Board approved $20 million in general funds to be added to the Small Business Stimulus Grant Program, which was established back in May.

The proposal was co-authored by County Supervisors, Greg Cox (District 1) and Nathan Fletcher (District 4). These funds will be available to businesses and nonprofit organizations in these industries:

- Restaurants

- Gyms, fitness centers and yoga studios

- Movie theaters

- Museums

- Zoos and aquariums

- Event planners (weddings, festivals, fairs, etc.)

The supervisorial district offices in the county will review and recommend applicants for the $20 million, which will be split evenly among the county’s five districts, $4 million in funds each. It is not clear how much each business could receive or how many will receive funds.

The hope is that these funds will help businesses stay afloat and prevent them from closing permanently, after the county, and most of the state, was pushed back into the purple tier. Businesses can use the funds to pay their rents and leases, equipment to comply with regulations, and keep their employees.

Supervisor Fletcher said this won’t solve all the problems of businesses, but hopes it can hold them over.

District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond, who has opposed the state restrictions and would like businesses to reopen, agreed that this is a short-term solution.

In a joint statement, Supervisors Cox and Fletcher said, “Due to the massive spike in COVID-19 cases and very concerning increases in hospitalizations we have to take action to slow the spread in San Diego County. Through no fault of their own, COVID-19 highest risk entities have to stop indoor operations. While we know this step is vital to help slow the spread in our community, we want to step up and help those impacted. Our goal for the $20 million is to provide relief to restaurants, gyms and other entities that have been directly impacted by the indoor closures due to our county’s Purple Tier status. We want to provide this critical relief to them as our community works to slow the spread and stop the surge of COVID-19 cases.”

Applications are available on the Small Business Stimulus Grant Program website: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/stimulusgrant.html. The recipients will also be available on the site. Businesses that submitted a previous application do not need to reapply.

If you have already applied or have questions, please email candyce.yee@sdcounty.ca.gov to express your interest to be considered for this new program or apply at the link below.

This is the fourth time the Board has voted to provide stimulus grant funds for restaurants and other small businesses.

They have approved a total of $27.5 million of CARES Act funds.