With local small businesses doing all they can to find ways to deal with the loss of business due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The first round of grant recipients was recently announced from the Iowa Small Business Relief Program. In Marion County two businesses were awarded 25,000 grants, Chaos &e LLC and Manny’s Dinner LLC, and in Warren County Crouse Cafe Inc. received $25,000 and The Zoo Inc. received $20,000. Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe LLC in Jasper County also received $25,000.

In total over $10 million dollars has been handed out to small businesses throughout the state to help deal with the economic impacts presented by the disease. An additional round of funding is expected to be available soon for small businesses, pending availability of funds, at which point additional awards will be made from the current pool of applicants. The Iowa Economic Development Association currently has no plans to open a new round of applications.