About $2.2 million in federal support funds for McAllen small businesses are still being distributed by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.
According to the chamber, it began allocating $4 million in January and still has over half of that money left.
“There’s plenty of funds,” Jorge Sanchez, vice president of business development and startups, said.
Sanchez says those millions of dollars follow funds delivered to about 287 local businesses last year following surveying that indicated the need for assistance was critical.
“We started to do surveying of our business community, and pretty much we listened to what they had to say,” he said. “And the data showed that if we were not able to assist economically or do something to open again in the next three months, around 40% of our business community would pretty much shut down.”
The chamber doesn’t have data that directly measures how much those funds stimulated local business, Sanchez said, but they were well received and he thinks the success is evident in the town’s thriving business community.
“I believe there’s no coincidence that McAllen was actually the second city in the entire state of Texas with most sales per capita. I think it’s a consequence of all this help,” he said.
The funds are being distributed in $10,000, $20,000 and $30,000 increments based on businesses’ gross revenue, according to the chamber’s website.
Businesses can use that money on things like rent payments, utilities, legal counseling to prevent eviction, COVID-19 precautions, business planning assistance, short-term marketing campaigns, inventory replenishment and some job training.
There are a variety of qualifying criteria, including a gross revenue cap of $3 million being established in McAllen before March 2020, demonstrating the business was affected by a decline in gross receipts for the year 2019-20 and being located in McAllen, among other criteria.
Certain businesses are ineligible, among them vice businesses, illegal activities, securities investments, and hobby businesses.
“So I think it’s a great opportunity for lots of McAllen businesses, and they should apply,” Sanchez said.
The funds will be available until they’re all allocated, Sanchez said.
“As soon as the funds get exhausted, that’s pretty much it, but at this point as we see the trends, this should be open for a few more months and then we can pretty much conclude this program,” he said.
Businesses can apply and learn more about eligibility for the monies on the chamber’s website.
