On Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine announced that his administration, in partnership with the Ohio General Assembly, had developed a package of more than $419.5 million CARES Act funding to help Ohioans. This package includes funding for nonprofits, small businesses, restaurants and bars, hospitals, higher education, arts and low-income Ohioans impacted financially by the pandemic.
The package was taken to the State Controlling Board for approval on Oct. 26. The board approved it.
In addition to $125 million in CARES Act grant funding for small businesses with no more than 25 employees. the package also included $25 million CARES Act funding for nonprofits, and $20 million to support Ohio's arts organizations. These funds will be used for costs incurred throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement was supported by several Ohio organizations, including OSAE, the Ohio Hospital Association, NFIB, Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, Ohio Bankers League and others.
Initially, the application was to be made available on Nov. 2, 2020 at businesshelp.ohio.gov.
Yet, OSAE learned that this morning the governor's office noted the link on the site does not work for nonprofit organizations. The governor's team also indicated a few remaining issues must be resolved before the application for nonprofit organizations goes live.
Currently, the administration has not announced an updated timeline for the application to go "live."
OSAE is hopeful an announcement will be made later this month. We'll continue to follow this closely as our organization understands the extreme economic pressures the pandemic has brought upon Ohio's association community.