Coming Soon: Maryland RELIEF Act Support for Businesses

By Maryland Department of Commerce | Mar 3, 2021

With the passage of the RELIEF Act of 2021 by the Maryland General Assembly, new COVID-19 relief will soon be made available for certain Maryland businesses through the Maryland Department of Commerce.

While we are not accepting applications yet, we wanted to spread the word about the new funding as broadly as possible so businesses from across the state are ready to apply when the time comes. We will update our website as details about these Commerce programs become available.

The new funding will be available through the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund (also known as Commerce’s Advantage Maryland program), a flexible and broad-based program which usually funds grants, loans and investments to support economic development initiatives; and through Commerce’s Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Account, which uses proceeds from video lottery terminals at Maryland’s six casinos to assist small, minority, and women owned businesses.

This funding will be targeted toward certain groups of businesses, including:

  • $10 million for businesses who do not collect sales tax and can demonstrate a need for assistance, with priority given to those who have not already received assistance;
  • $500,000 for businesses seeking to set up online sales or help employees telework;
  • $10 million for small, minority, and women-owned businesses;
  • $8 million for private commuter bus operators and local transit systems.

Commerce will also provide an additional $22 million to the local jurisdictions for relief to restaurants and $10 million for hotels.  An additional $5 million in grant funding will be available to artists and arts organizations through the Maryland State Arts Council, and another $1 million for tourism marketing will be provided to the destination marketing organizations in each jurisdiction.

Commerce anticipates accepting initial applications for the new funding in mid-March.  Please continue to visit our business resources website for the latest information.

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