AKRON, Ohio – Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro and the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce announced plans this week to distribute $1,546,000 to 311 small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 Small Business Emergency Relief Grant Program, approved by Summit County Council on March 30 and coordinated through the Chamber of Commerce, is designed to provide grants of up to $5,000 to for-profit businesses in the county that have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and related closures.

To be eligible, a business must employ between three and 25 people, with at least half of employees residing in Summit County, and demonstrate financial need and desire to continue operation by applying for a U.S. Small Business Administration economic injury disaster loan.

As of the application deadline on April 13, the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce had received more than 1,000 applications, about 600 of which were from eligible businesses, the county said in a news release.

“The overwhelming response to this grant program underlined the significant need from Summit County’s small businesses,” said Steve Millard, president and CEO of the chamber. “There is undoubtedly more need. We will continue to look for opportunities to drive funding to more small businesses and stand ready to help these companies with other aspects of getting to the other side of this pandemic.”

The Chamber expects to release a list of grant recipients after all businesses are notified. Applications for businesses that did not receive funding will be kept on file in case additional funding becomes available, according to the release.

The recipient businesses are located across 24 of Summit County’s 31 municipalities, and 46% are located in low- to moderate-income census tracts, the release states. Eighty-five percent of recipients employ between three to 15 people, and 47% are categorized as disadvantaged businesses.

“Focusing on and maximizing the impact of these dollars on local businesses that create important jobs in our community and are often at a disadvantage in competing for federal funds and access to capital, was an important focus of this program,” Shapiro said in a statement.

Most recipients should expect to receive their grant before the end of April.

The program is paid for by Summit County, the City of Akron, JumpStart, Key Bank, the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, private donors, the cities of Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Fairlawn, Green, Norton and Tallmadge, Copley Township, Coventry Township, Bath Township and the Village of Mogadore.