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Ventura County Planning New $20 Million Dollar COVID-19 Business/Non-Profit Relief Fund

Ventura County is preparing to launch a major new COVID-19 relief effort aimed at helping small businesses, and non-profits in the county.  County Supervisors have given preliminary approval to creation of a new $20 million dollar assistance fund.  

The proposal calls for dipping into Ventura County’s general fund to pay for the relief effort, but county leaders say thanks to good budget management, they can afford it.

The plan is similar to a relief effort last year, when nearly 4,000 small businesses in the county hard hit by COVID-19 received $5,000 grants.

Plans still have to be finalized, but the goal is to start taking applications late this month, with grants starting to go out in March.  Businesses or non-profits must be based in the county, with income between $25,000 and $2.5 million dollars annually.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.