The EIDL targeted grant and supplemental targeted grant are government grants aimed at assisting businesses in low-income communities that were economically affected by Covid 19. Many small businesses and individuals in our community qualify for these very significant grants of $10k-$15k but are either unaware of the existence of this program or don’t realize they qualify. If you earn income from running a playgroup, tutoring, styling sheitels, or any of the many small businesses operated by Lakewood residents, this is for you!
The EIDL program is a loan program that was around pre-covid. In order to apply for the two EIDL grants, you must first apply for the loan, which will trigger an invitation to apply for these grants. You do not need to accept the loan; you can apply for a loan only in order to receive the grant application. The grants do not need to be repaid and do not contain limitations on how they are spent.
To qualify for a targeted EIDL grant of $10k, the following criteria must be met:
- Businesses including sole proprietors, independent contractors, self-employed individuals, and non-profit organizations which were in operation as of January 31, 2020, and are still in operation (excluding certain ineligible industries).
- Employ 300 or less employees
- Business location in a low income community. Lakewood as a whole is a low income community, for other addresses please search this map.
- Show an economic loss of 30% or more for any 8 week (2 month) period beginning March 2, 2020 compared to the same period in the previous year.
To qualify for the additional supplemental targeted EIDL grant of $5k, applicants must meet the conditions above as well as these two:
- Employ 10 or less employees.
- Show an economic loss of 50% or more for any 2 month period beginning March 2, 2020 compared to the same period in the previous year. (or to 8 weeks at the beginning of 2020 if the businesses started in January 2020)
This grant does not consider your actual total income. Many people had decreased business income in April and May 2020 and qualify for both grants on that basis, even if later in the year their business did better. Only the two months showing revenue decline are considered.
The link to apply, as well as for more information, is
The following link is to a well written explanation of this program with many relevant details about the application process:
http://chaiplus1.com/news/eidl/
In order to apply for the loan, you will need your tax returns from 2019 and 2020, your bank routing and account number, tax ID (social security or EIN), business address and contact information, and date of business opening. Once you apply for the loan, you will receive an invitation to apply for the grant. You will need to provide monthly revenue numbers for each month from January 2019 – September 2021. You will also be asked to create an online account and upload your 2019 tax returns, sign a form 4506T giving the IRS permission to release your 2019 tax information directly to the EIDL, and verify some additional information. After submitting all information, your account will first show your grant application as processing. If you return to your account some time later, that will have changed to a link to submit your application. You must hit that link to send the grant application to processing.
If your application is denied and you believe it is in error, there is an appeals process which is outlined in the links above.
If you and your spouse both report self earned income on schedule C, you can each apply for these grants separately. If you have multiple businesses under separate EINs, each qualifying business can apply separately. Using the same bank account information on applications for separate businesses will cause one application to be flagged as a duplicate and automatically denied.
This program will be ending at the end of this year, so I encourage eligible self employed individuals and businesses to move quickly to ensure they get funded by the end of the year. The application itself is quick and easy.
While I’m not an expert, I am happy to offer further clarification or assistance to community members who are unsure if they qualify for this grant or need help applying. I can be contacted at [email protected]