Emergency Grants | Washington State Department of Commerce

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Important notice to grant applicants!

The federal government recently changed its requirements for businesses and organizations receiving federal funds in the form of grants. It no longer uses the DUNS (Data Universal Number System) and has shifted to a new system known as the UEI (Unique Entity Identifier).

As of April 2022, recipients of grants using federal funds are required to have a UEI, which replaces the DUNS Number. If you don’t have one yet, you may want to apply now. You may apply for grants without one, but cannot receive funds until you have an UEI. Click here to apply now.

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Coming Soon! – Hospitality & Lodging Grants

Application portal will open in March 2023.

This grant program will provide assistance for eligible restaurants, bars, and other qualifying businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic. This program will also provide assistance to “lodging establishments” taxable by the state under chapter 28.08 RCW with 40 or more lodging units affected by the Governors’ moratorium.

Hospitality/restaurant industry

Grantees must use the funding for losses accepted between March 3, 2021 and October 31, 2022, as required by federal ARPA regulations and in accordance with the state’s emergency order end dates. Recipients/ Grantees will have until December 31, 2024 to use the funds.

Lodging establishments

Grantees must use the funding for losses accepted between March 3, 2021 and October 31, 2021, as required by federal ARPA regulations and in accordance with the governor’s eviction moratorium end dates. Recipients/ Grantees will have until December 31, 2024 to use the funds.

Detailed budget language by the Washington State Legislature:

$100,000,000 of the coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund — federal appropriation is provided solely for the department to administer a business assistance program for qualifying hospitality industry businesses that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts. The department must administer the program under appropriate agreements. For the purposes of this subsection, “qualifying hospitality industry businesses” means restaurants, hotels, motels, and other businesses in the hospitality industry as determined by the department. (b) Of the amount provided in this subsection, $15,000,000 of the coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund—federal appropriation is provided solely for grants to reimburse lodging establishments that have experienced losses during the state’s eviction moratorium pursuant to the governor’s proclamations. The department must work with impacted lodging establishments to develop criteria for the administration of this grant program. The department will verify actual eligible losses to be reimbursed. Actual eligible losses include room charges not paid by persons who stayed during the moratorium, any legal expenses incurred by lodging establishments as a result of the moratorium, and any repair expenses directly attributed to damages to rooms. For the purposes of this subsection (152)(b), “lodging establishment” means a hotel, motel, or similar establishment taxable by the state under chapter 82.08 RCW that has or more lodging units.

Commerce will launch the portal and will provide a link to receive applications in the 1st week in March 2023.

Please continue to check this site for more information as it becomes available.

Closed – Working Washington Grants: Round 5

The Washington State Legislature has allocated a new round of grant funding for small businesses affected by the pandemic. $70 million was appropriated by the legislature for the next round of Working Washington Grants: Round 5. In this round of Working Washington grants, available funds are set aside for specific targeted groups or sectors:

60% is identified for the arts, heritage, and science sectors, including those that operate live entertainment venues
40% is identified for most other sectors, including hospitality, fitness and personal services

General Timeline:

August 17 – September 9: Application portal will remain open for 24 days
September – October: Review of applications
End of October: Commerce will notify grantees and begin disbursing funding

Program Guidance and FAQs

Technical Support Center:

Email and phone support is offered in English and Spanish through January 31, 2023, and is managed by our partner, Submittable. The public can access it by calling (888) 242-0169 or emailing commercegrants@submittable.com. We encourage applicants to email for the quickest response.

The hours are as follows:

8 AM – 5 PM Pacific Monday – Friday
Email & Voicemails: Response provided within 8 business hours

Translated materials are available for download in the following 15 languages: Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Somali, Korean, Arabic, Punjabi, Amharic, Khmer, Chinese (Mandarin), Lao and Marshallese.

Closed – Convention Center Grants

The Washington State Legislature has allocated $5 million for a grant program to assist businesses and nonprofits that are dependent to maintain their operations on the economic activity created through conventions hosted in Washington state.