County businesses get pandemic aid

County businesses received nearly a half a million dollars in grants from federal funds distributed by the state economic development commission to help them cope with the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Trempealeau County economic development and tourism director Robert Grover said the first round of “We’re All In” grants of $2,500 from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation have been allocated to 168 county businesses for a total of $465,000. Businesses may apply for a second round of awards beginning this week, Grover said. The second grants will be for $5,000.

“Our office worked very hard with many of these business to help them secure these monies,” Grover said. “We are proud that so many Trempealeau County entities received the aid.”

He said his office is available to businesses that wish to apply for the second round of “We’re All In” grants this week. The application period began Monday and runs through Nov. 2.

Businesses that received grants from the first program are eligible to apply for the second, but first-time applicants will be given preference, Grover said. The state will also give priority to businesses with “ethnically diverse ownership, and those in the hardest-hit sectors, such as restaurants and taverns, hair and nail salons and barber shops, and other services.”

The number of businesses and their locations that received first-round grants include Arcadia, 26; Blair, 20; Dodge, two; Eleva, 14; Ettrick, 18; Galesville, 33; Independence, 21; Osseo: 41; Pigeon Falls, three; Strum, 11; Trempealeau, 11; and Whitehall, 27.

The money for the business grants comes from Wisconsin’s nearly $2 billion allocation of federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) funds.