Ripley County has received a $250,000 grant from the Hometown Business Preservation Initiative and OCRA. The Ripley County COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force will be responsible for receiving and reviewing the applications. The purpose of the grant is to provide financial support for the betterment of the people and businesses of Ripley County who have had a negative financial impact by the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants will be awarded in sums of up to $10,000 and there will be no repayment for these funds.
To be eligible for the grant, a business must be a for-profit enterprise with the following:
- For profit enterprises with:
- Small Businesses (100 employees or less)
- Microenterprises (5 employees or less, one must be the owner)
- Job retention must meet 51% of the low to moderate income (LMI) level of $37,350 annual income and will be verified by using:
- Income Verification Form and OCRA’s Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) Worksheet
- If a microenterprise, documenting the owner(s) are LMI
- Document that the jobs being retained would be lost if not for the grant
The potential use of funds is as follows:
- Employee retention, payroll expenses, salaries, etc. (if the applicant has previously received PPP Funds, this funding cannot be utilized for payroll purposes)
- Rents
- Purchase of equipment
- Furnishings, supplies, raw materials, inventory
- Other
The typical prohibited use of funds is as follows:
- For personal use or
- For personal debt
- Other
Applications are available through the Ripley County Economic Development website at https://ripleycountyedc.com/ocra-grant/ or an application can be picked up at the following locations:
Welcome Center Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce Batesville Memorial Building
220 E US 50 301 Shopping Village 132 S Main Street
Versailles, IN 47042 Batesville, IN 47006 Batesville, IN 47006
The application process will be from October 1, 2020 through October 16, 2020. Applications will be reviewed by the panel and notification will be sent to the applicant after a decision has been made. Applications must be postmarked by October 16, 2020 and will need to be returned to:
Ripley County Economic Development
P.O. Box 576
Versailles, Indiana 47042
For questions, please contact Gary Norman, Ripley County Economic Development Executive Director, at (812) 689-4344 or at gnorman@ripleycountyedc.com. The Ripley County COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force is pleased to serve the members of Ripley County and assist with the financial impact of COVID-19.
