Avon Lake completes Small Business Relief Grant program

AVON LAKE — The final grants were issued last week in a relief program that has provided $2,500 in assistance to 40 Avon Lake small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. City Council authorized $100,000 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money last November to go toward the initiative, which was conducted in partnership with the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce. Grants were available beginning Dec. 1 and were all issued by Feb. 18. Businesses initially were required to have a main place of business in an Avon Lake commercial space and have between three and 20 employees, according to a news release from Avon Lake Economic Development Director Ted Esborn. In January, businesses with fewer than three employees became eligible following a vote of City Council. The $2,500 had to be used for payroll, rent payments, utility payments and other qualified expenses. The businesses that received grants, in alphabetical order, were: 3rd Base Bar & Grill, Avon Lake Barber Shop, Avon Lake Printing & Signs, Avon Lake Shoe Repair, Big M Pizza, Burn Boot Camp, Café Melissa, Catania Medallic, Close Quarters, Dogg House Bar & Grill, Duber Automotive, Element LABS, Elite Nails, Erie Nails, Fine Bella, Fratello's, Gitta's Table, Great Lakes Gymnastics, Ibiza, Jake's on the Lake, JESS Lake, JGD Associates Inc., Klosterman Associates, Lakeside Nutrition, Las Cazuelas, Miss Kristin's Dance Studio, Old School Pizza and Wings, Parker's Grille & Tavern, Personal Travel, Pizza Cutter, Premier Hardwood Floors, Reflection Room, Rico's Tacos & Tequila, Ridge Cleaners, Seeds of Wellness, Spevock's Nautical Lanes, Taki's Greek Kitchen, The Caslon, The Maker Space Studios and UR Décor & More.