The town officially announced a new grant opportunity for local small businesses that were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as a total of $100,000 in funding is available through the Town of Hopkinton Economic Recovery Support Grant. Individual grants of $5,000 will be awarded to qualifying businesses.

The program originally was announced at Tuesday’s Select Board meeting.

“Small, local businesses are a valuable part of our community and faced many unprecedented hardships due to the pandemic,” Town Manager Norman Khumalo stated. “We are pleased to be able to offer this funding to provide stability to Hopkinton’s small businesses as they continue to recover from the pandemic’s impacts.”

According to the town’s press release, “Funds can be used to support the economic recovery of the business, such as expenses for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, utilities, inventory, COVID-19 supplies, personal protective equipment and more. The grants shall not be used for the personal benefit or personal expenses of owners or employees.”

Businesses must have 25 or fewer employees, be located in Hopkinton and have been adversely impacted as a result of COVID-19. The grant funding is not available to banks and financial institutions; law firms and attorneys; physicians, dentists, surgeons and veterinarians; insurance brokers and agents; real estate brokers and sales agents; or architects, engineers and land surveyors. Additional information about the requirements can be found here. The application can be accessed here.

“Many small businesses closed or limited operations during the pandemic and are still working to come back from those losses,” said Assistant Town Manager Elaine Lazarus. “We hope to be able to help many small businesses through this grant program, and we encourage businesses to review the requirements and apply for a grant as soon as possible.”

Grant applications must be completed and delivered or mailed to the Town Manager’s Office, 18 Main Street, by Jan. 19. Applications will be accepted and processed on a first-come, first-served basis.