RESOURCES FOR ARTISTS & ARTS ORGANIZATIONS

Lehigh County creates Regional/Tourism, Non-Profit and Education/Broadband Relief Funds Lehigh County COVID-19 relief programs now available to tourism/regional entities, non-profits and Education/ Broadband interests

Effective Friday, August 14, 2020, the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners voted to create funding streams to provide relief for non-profits, tourism, regional entities and educational and workforce entities. This is in addition to a fund already established to provide emergency aid for small businesses.

 

The source of funds for these programs is the Lehigh County COVID-19 Block Grant. Applications for relief from these grant funds must directly correlate with COVID-19 expenses. All related expenses can be charged from March 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020. All COVID-19 grant funds MUST be spent by December 30, 2020.

 

Applications for all Lehigh County COVID-19 Relief grant programs can be found on the Lehigh County website at lehighcounty.org .

 

Main Street Lending Program Loans for Nonprofits

On July 17, the Federal Reserve expanded the Main Street Lending Program to certain nonprofit organizations. Previously only available to small- and medium-sized, for-profit businesses, the Main Street Lending Program was established under the CARES Act and is designed to provide businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with additional credit, to help such businesses recover from the impact of COVID-19. Eligible nonprofit organizations may receive between $250,000 and $300 million in loans under the Main Street Lending Program.
 
To be eligible for loans under the Main Street Lending Program, an organization must:

• Be an organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code;
• Have been in existence for at least 5 years;
• Have at least 10 employees;
• Have no more than $3 billion in endowed funds;
• Have a minimum of 60 days’ cash on hand;
• Have total non-donation revenues of at least 60% of its expenses between 2017 and 2019; and
• Have a 2019 operating margin of at least 2%.

 
Eligible nonprofit organizations have two options for their Main Street Lending Program loans: Nonprofit New Loans and Nonprofit Expanded Loans. The minimum and maximum loan amounts are different for each type of loan; however, all loans are subject to the following terms:

• Loan term is 5 years;
• 5% loan risk retention;
• Interest rate is LIBOR + 3%;
• Principal payments deferred for 2 years; and
• Interest payments deferred for 1 year.

LEHIGH COUNTY COVID-19 ​RELIEF​ SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM

 

The Lehigh County COVID-19 Relief Small Business Grant Program is now accepting applications! Lehigh County Council has approved this Grant Program partnered with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce that will distribute $5 million dollars of CARES Act Funds to Lehigh County small businesses with 100 or fewer employees.

 

Please use this link to view or download the eligibility guidelines to apply for up to $15,000 to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 related expenses.

 

COVID-19 CULTURAL AND MUSEUM PRESERVATION GRANT PROGRAM Overview

The COVID-19 Cultural and Museum Preservation Grant Program provides grants to cultural organizations and museums that experienced a loss of revenue from the closure by the proclamation of disaster emergency by the Governor on March 6, 2020 published at 50 PA.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), and any renewal of the state of disaster emergency.

Eligibility

Eligible cultural organizations or museums must be one of the following categories to be eligible for funding through the COVID-19 Cultural and Museum Preservation Grant Program:

• Children’s Museum
• General Museum with at least two equally significant disciplines
• History Museum or Historical Site
• Military or Maritime Museum
• Natural History Museum
• Accredited Zoo
• Planetarium
• Science and Technology Center
• Orchestra
• Art Museum
• Performing Arts Organization

Funding

The maximum grant is $500,000 per eligible cultural organization or museum. The minimum grant is $25,000 per eligible cultural organization or museum.

How to Apply

Applications will be accepted between June 29, 2020 and July 31, 2020 through the Department of Community and Economic Development Electronic Single Application for Assistance.