McMaster visits Myrtle Beach to promote small and minority-owned business grant program
Gov. Henry McMaster promoted South Carolina’s new grant program to assist small and minority-owned businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic during a visit to Myrtle Beach Friday.
The program, which began accepting applications on Oct. 19, will offer $40 million worth of grants to small businesses. The grants will range from $2,500 to $25,000 and be made available by mid-December, a rather speedy turnaround for handing out government funding.
The window for applying to the program ends Nov. 1. The grants are being presented as an alternative offered directly to small and minority-owned businesses who did not have the resources or connections to obtain loans through the federal CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program.
“A lot of times, these great programs come along, and nobody knows about them,” McMaster said. “So they don’t apply.”
McMaster and other officials involved with the program spoke outside of Horry-Georgetown Technical College’s Culinary Institute in Market Common, a hub for local businesses and entrepreneurs. Friday’s stop is one of five the governor has made touting the program and encourage applications.
But despite the fast turnaround for distributing the money, one business director, Shaun Cox of Pivotal Health Solutions, told the governor she still wished for the money to be available sooner. Her organization, a health care provider, serves people with mental health issues and substance use disorders.
“I have struggled to keep everybody employed, but I have,” Cox said. “I’ve gone without pay. I’m just asking for assistance so we can continue to do what we love to do.”
The money from the program came from funding the state got through the CARES Act. The federal government is now considering a second, slightly smaller stimulus bill, details of which are being hashed out in Congress right now. McMaster did not say whether he hopes to see a second stimulus bill come through, but if it does, he said he definitely wants to see more money for small businesses.
Anyone seeking to apply for the program can go here.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 6:27 PM with the headline "McMaster visits Myrtle Beach to promote small and minority-owned business grant program."
