Recently, the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation issued more information about the $668 million grant program.  When reading through the guidelines of the Sector-Specific Relief Grant Program for Massachusetts Businesses, you might get a sense that this program might not be available to most healthcare practices.

For starters, MGCC clearly states as part of the Program Overview available at: https://www.empoweringsmallbusiness.org/covid-19-response/sector-specific-relief-grant-program-massachusetts-businesses:

This business relief fund targets the hardest hit small businesses that have an exceptional need of cash relief. Though many businesses have been negatively affected by the pandemic, not all needs are equal. To ensure that these limited funds get to the most severely impacted businesses, you SHOULD NOT APPLY if you:

• are not showing an operating loss due to the coronavirus pandemic
• have access to other sources of relief
• have been able to continue to operate without significant financial distress
• have adequate available reserves

The Program Overview goes on to detail eligible businesses, and does include Personal Services, but then only lists Nail Salons, Barber Shops, and Independent Pharmacies in that subsection.

If you read through the guidelines and still feel that your practice is entitled to one of these grants, the deadline to apply is 1/15/21.  With $668 Million earmarked for this grant program, and each grant limited to $75k, there should be at least 8,900 small businesses in Massachusetts who will benefit from this program.

Click on this link to begin the application process: https://massgcc4.submittable.com/submit if you didn’t apply last month when this grant was first announced. Any business owner who has previously applied will automatically be included in the pool of applicants to be considered for this round of grants.

More details on how to apply and eligibility requirements are available at www.empoweringsmallbusiness.org.