AUGUSTA, Maine — With businesses across Maine still sifting through damage after the Dec. 18 storm, new private relief grants may soon become available.
The Retail Association of Maine and the Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association—two groups representing hundreds of shops, restaurants, and other stores—are starting the Maine Business Relief Fund.
The aim is to provide grants of between $2,500 and $10,000 for businesses to use on repairs, equipment replacement, and general cleanup in the wake of last month's powerful wind storm, that brought severe flooding to parts of the state.
“It's going to be a huge assistance, but the businesses are still going to be struggling,” Katie Doherty, president and CEO of the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce, said.
The new fund was announced Tuesday at Cushnoc Brewing Co., a popular restaurant along the Augusta waterfront whose riverside taproom was badly damaged by flooding following the Dec. 18 storm.
The brewery’s General Manager Casey Hynes, plans to apply for a relief grant, although he admitted even the maximum amount won’t cover the losses.
“[There’s] much more than ten thousand dollars worth of damage downstairs,” Hynes said Tuesday.
Still, Hynes estimated that a Maine Business Relief Grant could help expedite repairs to the taproom.
“Certainly, that will help us get back [up] and operational as quickly as possible,” Hynes said.
But with the number of businesses damaged in the storm, it's unclear just how many stores and restaurants the grant can help.
So far, the only publicly known donations are a $250,000 matching gift from an anonymous donor and $10,000 from the office of Gov. Janet Mills, who attended the launch event at Cushnoc.
Even so, Curtis Picard, who heads the Retail Association of Maine, is confident in the fund’s ability to make an impact.
“We’ve already had some significant donations, so we could hypothetically begin to distribute funds very very quickly,” Curtis said.
Businesses can start applying to receive a Maine Business Relief Fund grant on Jan. 4.