Coronavirus: Montgomery County works under a deadline to distribute $92 million in CARES Act funds

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Montgomery County received $92 million in CARES Act funds to help those hurting in the community from the coronavirus and one of the first groups of people the county is looking to assist is small business owners.

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An office has been set up specifically for organizing how to get the money out to the community.

The county plans to begin accepting applications for grants from small businesses possibly as soon as mid-June.

Robin Sassenberg, co-owner of the Trolley Stop in the Oregon District, says she can use all the good news she can get.

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“If we hadn’t had loans from the government, we’d have shut our door already, we were out of money within a couple weeks actually,” she said.

“You lose sleep, you can’t function, you worry endlessly, not only about the business but the people that work there and the customers.”

After accepting small business applications, the county’s next step is to begin extending funds for housing assistance, educational needs, healthcare and agriculture.

“The state has money for local jurisdictions, this money will just focus on our partners, organizations and people in need of money,” said Marvene Mitchell Cook, one of Montgomery County’s leaders in charge of the CARES Act funds.

Not only does the county have to decide who is in need of the funds most, they are also working under a deadline.

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The CARES Act money must all be handed out to meet community needs by a Dec. 31.

Once the application process is up and running, the county has a team that will review the applications and work to get this money into the hands of those most in need, as fast as possible.

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