We want to help the small businesses. We know that they’re the backbone of our community.
The Pharr Economic Development Corporation will be hosting a set of workshops Wednesday to offer grant assistance to small and emerging for-profit businesses.
The workshops will take place at Pharr One, located at 1121 E. Nolana Loop, with an English workshop scheduled for 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and a Spanish workshop scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m.
“We’re gonna kick off a grant program, and at the end of the session, we’re going to announce more about it,” Victor Perez, Pharr EDC president and chief executive officer, said. “It’s going to be for new small businesses coming to Pharr, and we’re going to grant up to $5,000.”
According to Perez, the EDC will be awarding reimbursement grants of up to $5,000 for qualifying new businesses and up to $10,000 for qualifying existing businesses.
Attendees of the workshops will have the chance to hear from the Pharr EDC about the grant program guidelines and the application process, as well as resource partners such as the Small Business Administration, the Small Business Development Center and Workforce Solutions.
“This here is a prerequisite that you can go to this seminar and learn and hear from all these individuals that have something to do with the business,” Perez said. “So we’re gonna get the (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), we’ve got Workforce Solutions, we have the Chamber. We tried to get everybody involved that they might be able to be worked with while they open their business, or if they have trouble with this thing, they can reach out to the people there. They’re going to hear about their services and so forth.”
A news release listed some of the qualifiable projects that could be funded by the small business grant, including working capital, equipment purchase, signage, city of Pharr permit fees, landscaping, small repairs, Pharr Chamber membership (GPCC) and storefront improvements.
In order to qualify for the grant, businesses must be physically located in the corporate city limits of Pharr; they must be a private, for-profit entity; they must employ between five and 50 employees, including the owner; and they must have less than $1 million in projected gross revenue.
“We had been talking about this way before COVID kicked in — doing small business grants for new business coming to Pharr and the ones that are there,” Perez said. “We did have a COVID-19 grant program that we did, and we, I think, gave out almost $300,000 back then.”
“We want to help the small businesses,” he continued. “We know that they’re the backbone of our community. It’s important that we do something for them and let them know that we have their backs and that we’re there for them — making sure that if they come to Pharr, they can have a very good chance of being successful.”
More information about the workshops and the small business grant is available by visiting pharredc.com.
