PALM BEACH COUNTY — The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approved the CARES Restart Business Grants Program on May 15 to accelerate the reopening of businesses hardest hit by COVID-19.

The $60 million Business Restart Program uses a portion of the county’s $261 million allocation from the Federal CARES Act approved by Congress. The BCC has dedicated $50 million toward businesses with 25 or fewer employees and $10 million toward businesses with greater than 25 employees.

The program guidelines, including eligibility criteria, are posted on the county’s website. The BCC gave approval for individual grants up to $25,000 to help Palm Beach County businesses forced to close or limit operations and are now planning to “restart” based on the county’s phased opening process.

Required documents will include a fully executed application from the county’s online portal, certifications, affirmations and acknowledgments, tax returns, payroll reports, an active Palm Beach County Business Tax Receipt and an active registration on SunBiz. These documents will be required to be uploaded into the system by the applicant.

Interested businesses are encouraged to prepare for the Restart Program Application as they will be processed on a first-come, first eligible basis. The online application is launched on Friday, May 22, at 8 a.m. and will be accessible through the Palm Beach County website.

The criteria for the grant can be found at: http://pbcgov.com/hes.