EDB grants $1.4M to businesses in Bayamón affected by Hurricanes Irma and María
The Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico (EDB) bestowed grants of up to $50,000 that added up to more than $1.4 million to small- and mid-sized businesses in the town of Bayamón that were affected by the passage of Hurricanes Irma and María.
The government agency approved and closed 34 applications for businesses in Bayamón, representing the combined financial aid.
“We’re excited to get to Bayamón, to deliver and sign grants of up to $50,000 to these businesses. This after they completed the EDB application process in which they validated that their operations were affected by the passage of Hurricanes Irma and María,” said EDB President Luis Alemañy.
He also specified that the funding comes from the Small Business Financing initiative (SBF) under Community Development Block Grant Program for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
Through August 2021, the EDB has disbursed $39.3 million across the island to small businesses whose operations were affected by the passage of these natural disasters in 2017.
The federal program has supported the creation of some 215 new jobs, and dozens of jobs have been retained, the officials said.
Bayamón Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera said “the aid will benefit small and medium-sized businesses in Bayamón to be able to face difficult times such as we have had after the passage of Hurricanes Irma and María and now with the pandemic. We’re convinced that our entrepreneurs will know how to take advantage of this benefit.”
