Texas Back in Business has begun processing applications received from small businesses that applied for available federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for economic revitalization activities following Hurricane Harvey.
The Texas Back in Business program is a $100 million-dollar CDBG-DR funded program authorized by HUD for economic revitalization activities targeting small businesses recovering from Hurricane Harvey. The Texas Back in Business program took applications from small businesses across the Hurricane Harvey-impacted 49-county area from December 2, 2019, to March 2, 2020, and conducted a blind randomization of the applications, which maximizes equal opportunity for awarding. Texas small businesses were able to submit applications for $50,000 to $250,000 in grant funds based on federal eligibility requirements. At the close of the application period, the program was oversubscribed, with far more applications than funds available.
Now, the Texas Back in Business program is moving forward with application processing to help applicants qualify for funds under federal requirements. The program will contact applicants in the order established by the randomization process that provided all applicants an equal opportunity to be considered for funds. The program will continue contacting applicants to help each qualify until available funds are expended.
The Texas Back in Business program understands small businesses are under compounded duress due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The program is committed to processing applications as quickly as possible. The federal grant dollars that fund this program have significant federal rules specifying eligibility criteria, how the grant awards can be made, and for what purposes the grant funding can be used. If determined under an audit of the program that awards not performed or used properly, either the applicants or the State of Texas could be required to repay the funds under recapture. The Texas Back in Business program is committed to helping Texas small businesses qualify for grant dollars and use the grants for eligible economic revitalization activities while maintaining federal rule compliance. The program is also committed to helping eligible small business applicants stay in compliance to prevent any future funding claw-back by federal agencies.
If any elected officials or governmental staff have any questions about the Texas Back in Business Program, please feel free to reach out to the CDR-IGR team.
If constituents have questions about next steps, please refer them to TexasBackinBusiness.com for the latest information related to application processing. If they cannot find the information needed on the website, we welcome them to contact the Texas Back in Program directly at 844-773-5669 or email info@texasbackinbusiness.com.
