Deadline to submit application is March 3, 2021 11:59 PM
$3,500 - $5,000 Grant
Grant Program Guidelines
- Applicants shall be a for-profit business physically located and operating in the City of Bakersfield, with a demonstrated economic need and have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
- Grant funds will target microenterprises where the owner qualifies as a low/moderate-income household or if the grant funds are used to retain/create low-income moderate jobs.
- Grants must be limited to (1) grant per business entity.
- Business must have 5 full-time equivalent employees or less. Self-employed business owners are eligible for up to $3,500.
- Business applicants will NOT be eligible to apply if the business has been approved or has received disaster relief funding such as Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), SBA Economic Injury Disaster Relief Loan, or B-CARES Grant Program.
- Business applicants must have no outstanding local, state, federal tax liens nor judgments.
- Applicants must have no bankruptcies within the last three years; bankruptcies must have a discharge date dating back at least three (3) years at the time of grant application.
- Business applicant must demonstrate and certify that it has been operating for at least one full year prior to today.
- Loan proceeds can be used for working capital and may go toward business expenses, such as Payroll costs, including costs for employee vacation, parental, family, medical, and sick leave, employee-related insurance, rent, inventory, supplies/materials, utilities, professional services, and more.,
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Grant awardees will be required to sign a grant agreement and submit a W-9 form.
Disclaimer: Due to the volume of application requests, the website or application page may temporarily be down from time to time. Please feel free to reload the page or to try again later.
Frequently Asked Questions
The City of Bakersfield has created a grant program for small businesses impacted by COVID-19, funded by Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds.
Microenterprises with less than five employees, operating in the City of Bakersfield, who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
Businesses can go to www.accesspluscapital.com and click on COVID-19 Relief Funds, please refer to City of Bakersfield ReSTART Grant Program.
No. Applications can only be submitted online, applicants that need assistance with completing their online application can call the Kern Women’s Business Center at 661-567-0410 or CSU Bakersfield Small Business Development Center at 661-654-2856. You can also call our assistance number at (559) 263-1367.
March 3, 2021 at 11:59pm
- Owner/s Driver’s License
- City of Bakersfield License (issued a year prior to date of application)
- Payroll Employee Report (will be used to verify number of employees is less than five).
- Entity Documentation (please refer to checklist for more detail)
No, only one entity per applicant.
No, individuals who own 20% or more of the business need to apply.
No, credit score will not be a decision factor.
If the system goes offline it will save your progress. Please try later with your log in information and complete the application. You must submit your application by 11:59pm on March 3, 2021.
Yes, all applicants will receive a notification in writing by email and/or mail on the status of their application on March 12, 2021.