Some $1.24 million in grant funding has been awarded to 83 small businesses in Kearny, Mayor Alberto G. Santos and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise announced Oct. 20.
The funding was allocated through Kearny’s share of the federal CARES Act and may be utilized for COVID-19-related expenses such as payroll, mortgage or rent payments and utilities.
“The Town Council and I recognize that small businesses are the backbone of our community and we look forward to continue working with the business community in the weeks and months ahead to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic,” Santos said. “I’d like to thank our federal delegation for their work in bringing CARES Act funding to our community.”
In order to qualify for the awarded funding, a Kearny small business had to meet guidelines established by Hudson County pursuant to the CARES Act.
This included operating as a for-profit entity at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, having 25 or fewer employees and having a physical presence in Kearny.
The maximum grant award amount was $20,000.
The Town of Kearny worked closely with Valley Bank to create an application process and prioritize this critical funding for businesses negatively affected by COVID-19.
Valley Bank’s Director of Business Banking NJ Dorothy Kahlau said, “We were honored to partner with the Town of Kearny to assist them with sustaining small businesses and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Kearny small businesses through the CARES program.”
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.