Ox Shoppe Small Business Grant

Applications for all three programs are reviewed on a quarterly cycle, with City staff reviewing submissions and recommending funding awards to the Covington Board of Commission for final approval. Award and approval processes typically take six to eight weeks. Applicants must be in compliance with Covington's Good Standing Ordinance (current on loans, fines, liens, and other obligations to the City) and meet all zoning, building, and health code requirements. The Rent Subsidy Incentive provides reimbursement of up to half of a business's monthly rent (or $500 per month, whichever is less) for up to 12 months within the first 18 months of business, with a maximum total benefit of $6,000. The program is designed to help new businesses launch or existing businesses expand, and requires a minimum two-year lease, at least one full-time equivalent employee whose wages are reported to the City of Covington, and set operating hours of 30 hours per week or more. New businesses must have been open for less than 120 days at the time of the application deadline, while existing businesses can qualify as a "substantial expansion" by occupying more than 150 percent of their current space, incurring at least $5,000 in tenant improvements, and creating at least one additional full-time equivalent employee. Businesses renting in publicly owned buildings, check cashing businesses, vape shops, home-based businesses, businesses where ownership also owns the real estate, and accelerator, incubator, or coworking operators are not eligible. The Façade Improvement Forgivable Loan provides commercial property owners with a 50 percent matching forgivable loan of up to $10,000 to update their building's façade. Applicants can pursue one of two options: an Exterior Only option, which reimburses the owner's investment on a $1-to-$1 basis up to $20,000 in total project cost (with City funds spent only on the street-facing façade), or an Interior and Exterior option (available for vacant buildings being prepared for a tenant), which allows the private match to go toward interior "white box" renovations while City funds are still spent exclusively on exterior improvements. Eligible improvements include painting, storefront restoration, exterior lighting, windows, signage, awnings, tuck-pointing, and cornice repairs. Roofs are not eligible, and projects focused exclusively on signage or awnings do not qualify. A Certificate of Appropriateness from the City's Historic Preservation Specialist is required, even for non-historic buildings. Property owners must hold the property for at least three years following the improvement, with full repayment required if the property is sold within that period. The Historic Electric Sign Program provides commercial property owners (or businesses with the property owner as a co-applicant) with an 80 percent city / 20 percent owner matching forgivable loan of up to $10,000 to help restore existing projecting signs or install refurbished historic signs on their building's façade. The program is designed to enhance the aesthetic appeal of Covington's commercial districts, generate foot traffic, and improve businesses' curb appeal by bringing historic electric signage back into use. A Certificate of Appropriateness from the City's Historic Preservation Specialist is required, and face changes to existing signs are not eligible. Recipients must sign a covenant protecting the sign from removal, sale, or demolition for 25 years following reimbursement, with full repayment required if the sign is voluntarily removed or destroyed in violation of the covenant. Bonus consideration is given to signs that are documented to be at least 50 years old.

The VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Fund provides new, startup, and emerging small businesses in Southwest Virginia's e-Region with dollar-for-dollar matching grants of up to $10,000 to support business launch and early-stage growth. Administered by the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA), the program was established in 2017 to address access-to-capital barriers for small businesses in the region and to attract new small businesses from outside the e-Region to relocate there. Since launching, the program has assisted more than 200 new startups and has been credited with a 34-to-1 return on investment in an independent Virginia Tech study. To qualify, applicants must secure dollar-for-dollar matching funds from one or more other sources in at least the amount requested from VCEDA, operate a for-profit business that is no older than one year from the application date, currently employ or plan to employ fewer than 10 full-time employees, and intend to create or retain at least one full-time job within the e-Region within one year of application. Eligible business categories are reviewed and set annually by the VCEDA Board. Applications are typically reviewed twice per year, subject to fund availability. Interested applicants begin the process by working with their local Small Business Development Center (Mountain Empire Community College or Southwest Virginia Community College SBDC), which helps coordinate the application with VCEDA. Applicants are also required to obtain a letter or resolution of support from the county industrial development authority of the county where their project is located, or from the Norton Industrial Development Authority for businesses in the City of Norton.

The State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) is a national SBA program to help small businesses enter or expand into international markets. Funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and administered at the state level, this program provides direct reimbursement for the costs associated with "going global." Most states offer reimbursement grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 per year (though some states offer more) to offset export-related expenses. If your business currently makes any exports, or is looking to start exporting internationally, this is a fantastic program to explore. Please note that while this is a national program, the grants themselves are administered at the state level. The grant page that we have linked to provides a directory of the individual state websites where you can apply. Just click through to your state’s page to find specific details and eligibility criteria for your business.

This grant supports early-stage socio-technical partnerships focused on research data infrastructure ecosystems. The Cyberinfrastructure for Public Access and Open Science (CI PAOS) program within the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) aims to catalyze new and transformative socio-technical partnerships supporting research data infrastructure ecosystems across domains through early-stage collaborative activities between cyberinfrastructure researchers, scientists, research computing experts, data management experts, research labs, university libraries, and other communities of practice. The CI PAOS program supports the NSF Public Access Initiative by encouraging innovation across the CI ecosystem to address accessibility, discoverability, reliability, reproducibility, sustainability, and utility of data products in alignment with NSF and national goals for public access and open science. NSF accepts proposals pursuant to this Program Description year-round. From time to time, NSF may also issue Dear Colleague Letters to encourage proposals on special thematic interests and opportunities related to this program.

This announcement invites applications for basic research projects on chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and pesticides that have primary or secondary effects on the nervous system. Chemical threats are toxic compounds that could be used in a terrorist attack or accidentally released from industrial production, storage, or shipping. Projects supported by this NOFO are expected to generate data that elucidate mechanisms of toxicity of these agents, possible new manifestations of toxic exposures, and potential new targets for therapeutic development.