File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Jill Sperling

Business recovery

Kamloops Chamber offers to help with ‘daunting’ application process for business recovery grant

Jan 22, 2021 | 3:27 PM

KAMLOOPS — The B.C. Economic Recovery Plan was announced by the provincial government in September. Within the plan was a fund of $300 million dedicated to help small- and medium-sized businesses recover from the pandemic.

Since its announcement, only $10 million has been doled out to eligible businesses and the program is set to expire at the end of March.

It’s been a challenging year for businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many to limit their workforce and some businesses have had to change their entire operation to be able to operate safely.

The application for the Small and Medium Sized Business Recovery Grant has also been difficult for some businesses to navigate.

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“The Chamber’s heard from some businesses anecdotally around some challenges with the application program,” said Kamloops Chamber of Commerce President Tyson Andrykew. “It’s a bit daunting. You’re asked to kind of submit a recovery plan, which some of the smaller businesses, entrepreneurs, sole proprietorships, it’s a bit more daunting for them to come out and figure out exactly how to do that.”

Minister of Economic Recovery Ravi Kahlon says the government already changed eligibility requirements in December to accomodate more businesses.

“When I became minister, I started having meetings with stakeholders from restaurant associations, from tourism sector representatives and they made a whole host of recommendations to make this program more accessible and we took all their recommendations and made all their changes,” Kahlon said.

Before the changes were made, the government had received around 1,000 applications. Now, that number has grown.

“We’ve got about 5,000 applications and that represents about $65 million that’s on our books and about $10 million of that has gone out and the rest of the money is going to be going out shortly,” Kahlon said. “Again, it’s because we had 1,000 applications or so before the holidays, that represents some of the money that’s gone out and a lot of the applications, a large chuck of them, have just come in now and that’s going through our process.”

Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone is the opposition critic for economic recovery. He says eligibility requirements for the grant are still too restrictive.

“We’ve asked for some specific changes including doing away with the requirement for the business to have been in business for 18 months prior to the date of application,” Stone said. “I just talked again this morning to another business, a deli that employs 11 people, very representative of the companies that drive the economy in communities like Kamloops, they started their business one month after that 18-month requirement period.”

Stone says he wants the government to extend the application deadline beyond March 31.

“We’re calling on the government to make these changes, extend the deadline and to also commit to small businesses across the province that not a single dime of this $300 million that was approved many months ago, not a single dime is going to be reallocated for other purposes.”

Despite some of the confusion over the application process, the Chamber is encouraging businesses to apply for the grant.

“We’re encouraging businesses to reach out to the Chamber if they’re having any challenges, because obviously we want their business to succeed,” Andrykew said. “We want them to be able to carve out that time, get the support they need to make sure they get that money as opposed to just saying, ‘Forget about it,’ and not applying for it.”