The U.S. Economic Development Administration officially announced on Sept. 9, that the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency had been selected as the recipient of a $10.5 million grant through the CARES Act, which enabled the agency to establish a new Revolving Loan Fund. The intent of the RLF is to provide capital, in the form of low-interest loans, to both businesses and non-profit organizations as a means to respond to economic injury resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the intent of distributing the funding across many sectors and do it an equitable manner, the IDA decided to establish target budgets by sector and to deploy the funding in at least three rounds. The first round of funding was awarded at the Oct. 27 CCIDA Board meeting, with the subsequent funding cycles scheduled for January and April of 2021 (and July of 2021 if necessary).

The IDA Board approved funding for 28 businesses and non-profit entities in the following sectors: manufacturing/warehousing; not-for-profits; retail/commercial/agriculture; small business; and tourism/hospitality. All said, $5,736,293 in funding was approved by the Board of Directors after a thorough review by the Loan Committee, which will, in addition to retaining hundreds of jobs, create upwards of 100 new jobs.

Mark Geise, Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and the CCIDA’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are thrilled that we could deploy more than 50% of the funding provided by the EDA in only a couple of months, and in the process help more than two dozen businesses to not only endure, but create jobs. Our incredible team at the CCIDA has worked very hard to get this money out working in the community as quickly as possible, while ensuring that we are responsible, impartial, and address the EDA’s guidelines.”

The entities approved for funding include: Luscombe Aircraft; Merritt Estate Winery; The Original Crunch Roll; Pucci Carpet; Excelco/Newbrook; Artone; International Ordnance; Kimbert Manufacturing; Heritage Ministries; Uhl Ventures (Servpro); Ark Wholesale; SKB Auto Sales; Brigiottas; Billicki Law Firm; Advanced Production Group; Skate Shop; Corvus Bus & Charter; Webb’s Candies/Motel; Falconer Hotel; La Quinta/Holiday Inn/Hampton Inn; Big Inlet Brewing; Ivory Acres Weddings; Shawbucks; Cockaigne; Pace’s Pizzeria; and Webb’s Harbor Restaurant and Bowling Lanes.