SPARK APPLICATION

The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenging time for all of us, and small businesses are no exception. St. Paul has always been an entrepreneurial community dating back to the early 1900s and this spirt is the lifeblood of our community. Our small businesses have been required to shut down or completely change their business model during this ongoing global health crisis.

In partnership, the Town of St Paul along with the St Paul Industrial Development Authority has created the St Paul Assistance and Recovery Kit (SPARK) program available for small businesses located within the town’s boundaries. The Town of St Paul has awarded $100,000 to the St Paul Industrial Development Authority to establish a $30,000 grant pool to award up to $5000 to individual St Paul Small businesses and a $70,000 fund for 0% interest loans to provide up to a $10,000 loan to St Paul small businesses that have fewer than 50 total employees.

The loans will be no more than 60 months.
Grants will be paid as reimbursement on expenses.
To qualify for both the grant and loan businesses must:

Be located in the Town of St Paul
Business must be located in a brick and mortar location (no home located businesses qualify)
Have an active business license
Be current on all local taxes

Acceptable uses of funds:

Rent, Utilities, Payroll, Insurance, Sanitation, and Inventory

Funds may not be used for personal use, purchase of non-nonessential items, outstanding debt, investment (unless dept is secured by the St. Paul IDA).
Downtown applications are encouraged to apply for the Main Street Kicking COVID fund as well.

Our goal is to support local businesses, in a way that will keep them in operation long after this crisis is over.

This program will be on a first-come-first-served basis. Loan Applications will be available at www.stpaulva.org/COVID19 on May 11, 2020.