The city’s Economic Development Corp. created a program to provide 0 percent interest loans for some small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rent and Mortgage Assistance Program, or RMAP, will benefit small businesses in target commercial districts. The city’s Small Business Development Office will administer the $150,000 RMAP fund, and businesses can use the funding for commercial rent or mortgage payments during May and June 2020.
“Our goal with this program is to help stabilize our small businesses that are facing financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said SBDO Development Director John Hart. “We will make every effort to benefit as many of our local businesses as we can with this fund.”
Small business owners can use this short-term relief in conjunction with other local, state, and federal programs. A list of resources available to small businesses is at battlecreekcovid-19.com.
Staff will give priority to businesses with 10 or fewer employees in targeted commercial areas along Beckley Road, Columbia Avenue, Capital Avenue SW, and West Michigan Avenue, in the Urbandale area. See a map of these areas at bit.ly/rmap-gis. Home-based businesses are not eligible.
Businesses can receive a maximum of $2,000 per month during May, June, and July of 2020, not to exceed their rent/mortgage obligation.
The application is online at bit.ly/rmap-app. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Monday, May 11. Please contact Hart with questions at 269-924-9681; Retention and Development Manager Valerie Byrnes at 616-638-5521; or smallbusinessinfo@battlecreekmi.gov.