GOED announces $40M pandemic business rental assistance program

Utah small businesses that rent commercial property may receive pandemic relief from the Utah Legislature. Following the recent legislative special session and appropriation, the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) announced the COVID-19 Commercial Rental Assistance Program.

As part of S.B. 3006, the COVID-19 Commercial Rental Assistance Program includes $40 million in commercial property rental assistance. GOED will administer the grants providing rental relief to Utah small businesses — including nonprofits, sole proprietors, independent contractors and those that are self-employed — that have lost revenue as a result of measures taken to minimize the public’s exposure to COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 Commercial Rental Assistance Program will help many of Utah’s commercial property lessees in need of financial help because of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Val Hale, GOED’s executive director. “We thank the legislature for allocating $40 million in federal CARES Act funds to the program and hope the grants that are distributed will help Utah small businesses get back on their feet as quickly as possible.”

Qualification criteria and application details are at coronavirus.utah.gov. Officials said that the program will end when the funding is depleted, but that more than $30 million was still avaiable as of May 13.