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Home My WebLink About20202329.tiffOFFICE OF BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PHONE: 970-336-7204 FAX: 970-336-7233 1150 O STREET P.O. BOX 758 GREELEY, COLORADO 80632 July 27, 2020 Mayor John Gates City of Greeley 1000 10th Street Greeley, CO 80631 Jaime Henning Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce 902 7th Avenue Greeley, CO 80631 RE: CVRF Funding/Weld County Business Relief Fund Dear Mayor Gates And Ms. Henning, In response to your letter dated July 21, 2020, asking for an allocation of $394,057 from the Weld County Business Relief Fund, the board respectfully denies the request. All municipalities and the county agreed upon and signed an intergovernmental agreement setting forth the allocation of CARES Act funds to each of our respective entities. During the discussions, the City ofGreeley was represented by the City Manager Roy Otto. The allocation is based on a per capita dollar amount. Only the population in unincorporated Weld was used to determine the county's allocation. All entities have the ability to create a business relief fund and administer the program separate from the Weld Business Relief Fund. The board created the Weld Business Relief Fund to ensure businesses in unincorporated Weld would be guaranteed an opportunity for relief and assistance. The offer was made to all Weld County municipalities, including Greeley, to participate with the Weld Business Relief Fund program by contributing, at a minimum, 15% of their municipal allocation. Many Weld County municipalities allocated a portion or in some cases, all of their allocation to support the Weld Business Relief Fund. And through Upstate Colorado, we are working to ensure businesses located within those participating municipalities are given due consideration determinant upon the funds received into the Weld County Business Relief Fund. Like all municipalities, Greeley could use a portion of its allocation to contribute to their own business relief fund or the Greeley Area Recovery Fund. Some other municipalities are also choosing that option over participation in the Weld Business Relief Fund We appreciate that residents, constituents and businesses located in Greeley are county residents and constituents. It appears you are failing to realize the funds you are requesting are derived from just the population in the unincorporated parts of the county and are not derived from any of the municipal populations. 6/►'mLW) i "wYwJ 8- 3- gzzd 2020-2329 There is still an opportunity for Greeley to participate in the Weld Business Relief Fund, if they so choose. Absent from that participation, we have asked Mr. Rich Werner from Upstate Colorado who is administering the Weld Business Relief Fund for the county, to coordinate and offer guidance to the Greeley Area Recovery Fund. Sincerely, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Mike Freeman, Chair Steve oreno, Pro e B bars Kirkmey Sc(itt K.Ja s Kevin D. Ross City (..)f Color do ree eGreeleSArea Chamber of Commerce Visit Greeley July 21, 2020 Weld County Commissioners Mike Freeman, Chair Steve Moreno, Chair Pro-Tem Scott James Barbara Kirkmeyer Kevin Ross 1150 O Street P.O. Box 758 Greeley, CO 80631 Re: CVRF Funding / Weld County Business Relief Fund Dear Commissioners, via E-mail We are writing on behalf of the Greeley business community to request that the County allocate $394,057 to the Greeley Area Recovery Fund, as our community's pro -rata share of the first half of the County Business Relief Fund. This figure is based on the original population percentages calculated by the County for each Weld Community. We also understand that while the Weld Business Relief Fund is being capitalized using the percentage of the population that is unincorporated, we are all county residents and constituents, including our businesses, and appreciate being recognized as such. Here is a summary of the computations stated: Total Committed to the Business Relief Fund 50% Released Per Agreement with Municipalities Greeley Pro -Rata Share $2,314,061 $1,157,031 0.3406 $394,057 As additional dollars are committed to this relief fund, the same pro -rata share would be likewise allocated to the Greeley Area Recovery Fund using the same formula. Our reasons for making this request are many -fold. 1. We would be proud to assist Weld County in making grants to this part of the county, freeing up the county's time and efforts to focus on the rest of Weld County, especially with the short time -frames we are working under. 2. We already have a well -established fund, with an existing structure and selection committee, so could deploy these dollars almost immediately. 1 3. We have already made positive interactions with over 150 Greeley businesses who have shared their needs with us and we understand where the existing needs are that could be addressed with this new pool of grants. 4. Our fund is a successful and unique public/private partnership fundraising model, and therefore leverages the public sector dollars with the private sector. We are proud of that. 5. The initial purpose of our fund was to provide stop -gap financial assistance to the hardest hit businesses, hoping for a short -duration economic shutdown. So we have been very judicious with our grants to -date. The first phase of our fund has offered relatively modest grants, with a per business maximum of $5,000. Our average grant has been around $3,000. 6. The second phase, which we just launched, will include marketing grants ranging between $500- 1000 per business. The criteria for these smaller grants will be easier to meet than our first phase grants. 7. With additional funding, we can provide a deeper and more strategic level of assistance, helping businesses better adapt to a Post-COVID environment, by using technology and putting safety systems in place, especially since the effects of the pandemic will be with many of our businesses much longer than we hoped. We appreciate your consideration of this request and thank you in advance for your partnership in deploying these grants to businesses throughout Weld County this year while we help them during survival and recovery. Resp full ohn Gates Greeley Cc: Don Warden, Weld County Rich Werner, Upstate Colorado Roy Otto, Greeley City Manager Scott Warner, Greeley Chamber Chair Benjamin Snow, City of Greeley Greeley City Council Dale Hall, Mayor Pro-Tem Brett Payton Michael Fitzsimmons Tommy Butler Ed Clark Kristin Zasada e Henning Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce 2 Hello