City of Dover offers new round of grants for small businesses affected by coronavirus

posted on 5/3/2022

The City of Dover announces a new round of “Dover CARES” grant funding targeted at microenterprise and small businesses. The grants are made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The grants are intended to provide working capital to assist small local businesses in avoiding job loss caused by the coronavirus. The program offers up to $5,000 in assistance to qualifying businesses operating within Dover.

Funds from Dover CARES may either be used in two ways:

To reimburse incurred business expenses to plan, prepare and respond to the coronavirus; or To offset a business disruption that occurred because of the coronavirus.

There are two types of Dover CARES available : Microenterprise Business Assistance Grant and Small Business Assistance Grant.

The Microenterprise Business Assistance Grant is available to sole proprietorships and small for-profit businesses with five or fewer employees, including the owner(s) of the company. To be eligible, businesses must:

Comply with certain HUD requirements, including household income thresholds for the owner(s) of the business and retaining the same number of positions for 90 days, beginning with the formal notice of approval.
Have been in existence and continually operated in Dover since Nov. 1, 2020.
Generate a minimum of $60,000 in annual gross sales and is the primary source of income for the principal owner(s).
Be current on federal, state and local taxes and applicable health, safety and occupancy permits.
Comply with all other grant eligibility requirements.

Applications for the Microenterprise Business Assistance Grant are available online here.

The Small Business Assistance Grant is open to small for-profit businesses with 2-15 employees, including any owner(s) of the company. To be eligible for this grant, businesses must:

Comply with certain HUD requirements, including retaining the same number of positions for 90 days, beginning with the formal notice of approval.
Have been in existence and continually operated in Dover since Nov. 1, 2020.
Generate a minimum of $60,000 in annual gross sales and is the primary source of income for the principal owner(s).
Be current on federal, state and local taxes and applicable health, safety and occupancy permits.
Demonstrate that wages/benefits meet specific HUD income guidelines for either one full-time position of at 32 to 40 hours a week or two part-time positions that total 32 to 40 hours a week.
Comply with all other grant eligibility requirements.

Applications for the Small Business Assistance Grant are available online here.

Application Submission

Applications must be submitted to:

Office of Business Development
Attn: Reid Amy
288 Central Ave.
Dover, NH 03820

For more information, contact the Office of Business Development at 603-516-1560 or email Business Development Specialist Reid Amy at r.amy@dover.nh.gov.