Eligibility Determination

While the program is non-competitive, the County reviewed each application to verify eligibility and to prioritize each eligible application.  Any business that has received a denial letter via email notification can find detailed information about their determination here. 


Eligibility Determination Process

Recovery Office staff reviewed each application to determine whether the business meets the minimum eligibility criteria. To qualify for this grant program, the applicant business must:

  • Be located in Montgomery County
  • Have been in existence as of 10/1/2022
  • Earn annual gross revenue under $500,000
  • Employ under 50 staff
  • Be registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State
  • Have filed at least one tax return
  • Be independently owned and operated
  • Be current on taxes
  • Demonstrate a financial impact on the business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

If the fulfillment of any one of those criteria was not supported by the submitted documentation, the application was deemed ineligible. If no financial impact was stated, or if the information provided in the application could not be corroborated by the documentation provided, the application was deemed ineligible.

Additionally, if an applicant is a non-profit, childcare business, or housing development company, they are found ineligible for this program because of other grant programs specifically focused on those sectors funded through the Montgomery County Recovery Plan.

Applicants deemed ineligible can re-apply with corrected or additional information, and will be reviewed/prioritized in a future funding cycle.

Prioritization

As explained in the funding announcement, $500,000 in grants will be released each month until the funds are depleted.

To prioritize which order applications are funded each month, the Recovery Office will score all eligible applications based on the following point system. Reiterating that this is a non-competitive program, scoring is utilized to identify the order applications are funded; eligible applicants that receive no points can still receive grant funds:

Criteria

Value

Applicant is a Racial or Ethnic Minority (i.e. African-American, Hispanic/Latino, etc.) 1 Point
Applicant is Female1 Point
Applicant is a Veteran1 Point
Applicant is a Member of At Least One of the Following Disadvantaged Classes: Immigrant, LGBTQIA+, Disability, Limited English Proficiency1 Point
Applicant is Located in a Qualified Census Tract (Norristown or Pottstown)1 Point
Applicant Has 10 or Fewer Employees1 Point

Applicant is in One of the Following Industries:

  • Agricultural, Farming, Fishing
  • Transportation or Warehousing
  • Waste Management
  • Remediation
  • Health Care and Social Assistance
  • Accommodation and Food Service
  • Education Support Services
  • Delivery
  • Pharmacy
  • Laundry/Clothing

1 Point


Eligible applications will be funded in order of highest score and then (in the instance of tie scores) based on the date and time of submission. Funding will be provided to all applicants in this order until the $500,000 cap for each month is reached. Eligible applicants who are not funded in one month will remain in the pool of eligible applicants the following month(s) and will be reprioritized using the same scoring each month until all funding has been allocated.