FERNDALE, Wash. — Officials with the City of Ferndale announced today, September 10th, that 29 businesses in Ferndale have been awarded Whatcom ReStart business grants totaling $230,000 in allocated federal CARES Act funding.
Whatcom cities and the county agreed to pool portions of their CARES Act allocations in an effort to create a benefit greater than each could accomplish on their own according to City Administrator Jori Burnett. The city contributed $100,000 and the county contributed $130,000 to these grants.
The maximum grant amount for businesses is $15,000. A panel made up of the following people evaluated and scored each application to determine eligibility and rank the needs of all applicants.
- City Administrator Jori Burnett
- Ferndale Mayor Greg Hanson
- City Community Development Director Haylie Miller
- Ferndale Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Anya Milton
- City Councilmember Ryan O’Larey
Qualified applicants needed to show they experienced a reduction in revenue greater than 25% due to the COVID-19 mandates and 25 or fewer employees. Grant awards can only be applied toward eligible business expenses such as rent, payroll, operating costs and pandemic-related health costs.
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Port of Bellingham officials announced September 8th that 628 qualified applications were received county-wide and, from those, 269 applicants (42%) were awarded a total of $2.5 million in grants.
The ReStart Grants across the county are funded from a pool of federal CARES Act allocations to the county and cities in an effort to boost businesses facing an economic emergency resulting from stay-at-home mandates and business restrictions by the Washington state government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ferndale area businesses reported by the City of Ferndale to have been awarded ReStart Grants are listed below. While a portion of the city’s CARES Act funds was reportedly pooled with a portion of the county’s, the list provided by the city separated out the source of funding for each award.
| Business Name | City Funded | County Funded |
|---|---|---|
| Anda Photography | $2,200 | |
| Apple Pediatric Dentistry | $8,500 | |
| Apropos Hospitality Group | $5,000 | |
| Bellingham Professional Office | $10,800 | |
| Clary M Jensen | $15,000 | |
| Crave Catering | $10,000 | |
| Creative Signs & Design | $2,200 | |
| David McAnany Maintenance | $2,100 | |
| DownTime Taps | $15,000 | |
| Dun-rit Cleaning | $8,000 | |
| Flow Motion, LLC | $15,000 | |
| Friendly Foot | $2,400 | |
| Fringe Brewing | $15,000 | |
| GLB North | $9,793.49 | |
| Gym Star Sports Center | $15,000 | |
| Jack Francis Foods | $10,000 | |
| Juan & Family Auto Sales | $2,630 | |
| Juan Boat Service | $2,051.30 | |
| Leader Block LLC | $12,800 | |
| Main Street Grill | $15,000 | |
| Manthey Momentum Sports | $3,000 | |
| Master Remodeling | $2,400 | |
| Memorable Events & Catering | $14,000 | |
| Northwest Glass | $2,600 | |
| Peace Arch Therapeutic Massage | $2,400 | |
| Premier Cleaning Service | $1,800 | |
| Roni Sue Peluso | $6,400 | |
| Satori Massage | $9,032.21 | |
| Tacos Guadalajara | $8,400 | |
| Take Aim Independent Living Solutions | $3,000 | |
| TOTALS | $100,000 | $131,507 |
It was announced by the Port of Bellingham in late August that some Ferndale area childcare provider businesses had also awarded ReStart Grants from the pooled federal allocations to cities and the county. Ferndale area childcare providers reported by the Port of Bellingham to have been awarded a grant from the total of $479,265 in grant awards are listed below.
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| Business Name | Grant Amount |
|---|---|
| Little Angels Daycare Preschool | $10,000 |
| Olive Diaz Childcare | $10,000 |
| Leah’s Place Childcare | $3,000 |
| TLC Daycare | $10,000 |
In May, 37 Whatcom County businesses were approved to receive a total of $333,499 in Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grants from Washington State Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness. According to a letter from the department to the Port of Bellingham, the grants were intended to go to businesses “facing imminent failure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic emergency.” Ferndale area businesses who received a grant are listed below.
| Business Name | Grant Amount |
|---|---|
| Axe Engineering & Land Use Services | $10,000 |
| Perennial Painting LLC | $7,700 |
| HighCraft Group LLC | $10,000 |
| Complete Auto Repair Service | $10,000 |
| Nopal Mexican Family Restaurant and Bar | $10,000 |
| Net Solutions North America, LLC | $7,821 |
This story was updated about 2pm September 11th to reflect the amounts awarded Ferndale businesses in ReStart Grants using information provided by the City of Ferndale.