In the News
City announces ARPA-funded small business grant opportunitiesScranton Times-Tribune
SCRANTON, PA ,
October 24, 2022
U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, expressed a similar sentiment, calling the wage-boost program “a way to put small businesses in Scranton on a level footing with some of the international corporations that might be wooing away their employees.”
Wage-boost grants funded from a share of Scranton’s federal American Rescue Plan Act allocation will help small businesses retain employees by offering more competitive pay. Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and other officials announced the grant opportunity Monday at Cooper’s Seafood House, as well as an unrelated $105,000 loan-to-grant for the iconic restaurant at 701 N. Washington Ave. Scranton is dedicating $3 million of its $68.7 million ARPA allocation to fund the wage-boost grant program and other grants to help qualifying small businesses mitigate pandemic-prompted financial hardships. The wage-focused program, which officials expect to account for the majority of the $3 million, will provide grants up to $50,000 over the course of two years to supplement wages for employees. |