OLYMPIA — Additional aid is coming for small businesses in Washington state.

Gov. Jay Inslee announced at an April 7 press conference that the Washington State Department of Commerce will be administering a new Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant program, designed for small businesses with 10 or fewer full-time employees. The program will provide eligible applicants with a one-time grant up to $10,000.

Inslee said that the objective of the program is to help support small businesses through the covid-19 pandemic and allow them to retain as many employees as possible.

“We know we have thousands of people who have put their lives into small businesses, and we want to help them through this period,” said Inslee. “We’ve targeted small businesses as the people that have the most difficulty weathering financial storms, and we look forward to these small businesses continuing.”

Along with having a maximum of 10 full-time employees, the only other requirement for applicants to be eligible to receive grant funds is that they should also have been in business for at least one year. The funding is not meant to help launch a business, but to support current businesses that have been affected by the pandemic. Applicants may only apply to receive one of the program’s grant awards during this budget cycle, which ends on June 30 of 2021.

The state will consult with county or regional economic development organizations to verify the size of candidate companies prior to a grant being awarded. The organizations will submit recommendations to the state commerce department for review and vetting, before being forwarded to the governor’s office for review and signature.

Approved grant awards will be administered by the local economic development organizations. The state is anticipating a large volume of applications, and said it may take 4 to 6 weeks for the applications to be processed and disbursed.

The grant funds can be used for operational expenses — such as rent, supplies, inventory and utility bills — as well as consulting, marketing and training. In the application, a list of proposed expenses that the grant funds would be spent on must be included. Expenses such as capitalized equipment, travel, office equipment and computer software are not eligible.

The grant can assist with outstanding invoices dated March 1 or later, but payroll cannot be reimbursed through the program. Payroll inquiries should be directed to the Washington State Employment Security Department.

An online application can be filled out at: https://bit.ly/2yFyoLv. Small businesses in Pacific County that qualify for the program can submit finished applications through the Pacific County Economic Development Council by emailing the organization at pcedcmail@gmail.com with the application attached.

As of April 13, 17 counties have already announced that they are no longer accepting applications due to overwhelming volume, including Clark and Lewis counties.

More information about the program can be found at http://startup.choosewashingtonstate.com/covid-grants/.