Plumas Supervisors to Find Administrator to Distribute COVID Funds to Small Biz

Plumas County Supervisors will look to hire a third party to administer COVID relief grant funding amid staffing shortages. The county has set aside 540,000 dollars in APRA funds for small business recovery following the pandemic. The supervisors threw around a few suggestions on how the money should be distributed to those businesses with fewer than 25 employees, including having individual businesses apply directly to the county for the funds though that would be a lengthy application process, or to hiring a county employee or foundation to administer the grants. After discussions and a suggestion from representative Clint Koble with the Sierra Small Business Development Center who suggested to allocate funding to the Lost Sierra Business Center and Plumas Arts Council and then the remainder of the 540k going to small businesses, the board ultimately decided to send out a request for proposals from third parties to administer the grants in a more formal process rather than just hand out the money.