In the News
Mayor Sarno Announces Eighth Round of ARPA Funding Awards; Provides Update on ARPA Grant Programs
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the city American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) team announced today the City of Springfield’s eighth round of ARPA funding awards totaling over $4.9 million. Approximately $1.7 million is being committed to small businesses and nonprofits, and $3.27 million is being allocated as grants for three Build Back Springfield projects, in which the ARPA funds provide gap funding to projects that will advance adaptive reuse of historic or locally significant properties.
City Councilors Lavar Click-Bruce and Maria Perez and many of the awardees were also in attendance.
The city’s ARPA advisory committee has reviewed a total of 20 ARPA RFP applications from 14 small businesses and 6 nonprofits. 16 or 80% of the ARPA awardees are located within the Qualified Census Tracts (QCT) for eligibility. All of the 14 ARPA applications for small business identify as either minority owned, women owned, or minority and women owned.
Those small businesses, and nonprofits receiving funding include:
Business Name | Amount Awarded | Designation |
White Lion Brewing | $250,000 | Small Business Minority Owned Metro Center |
Dewey’s Jazz Lounge | $250,000 | Small Business Minority Owned Metro Center |
Souper Sweet Sandwich Shop | $75,000 | Small Business Minority and Woman Owned Forest Park |
Beaute Within, Inc. | $50,000 | Small Business Forest Park |
Mom & Rico’s | $29,000 | Small Business Located within QCT South End |
A Brighter Future Child Care | $25,000 | Small Business Located within QCT Indian Orchard |
MGB dba Elegant Affairs | $22,625 | Small Business Woman Owned Located within QCT Metro Center |
Yaritza Paula | $15,000 | Small Business Woman Owned Pine Point |
Liberty Mediterranean Giant Grinders. | $10,000 | Small Business Minority and Women Owned Metro Center |
Hanna’s Diner | $10,000 | Small Business Woman Owned Located within QCT Indian Orchard |
Kenia Hair Center | $10,000 | Small Business Minority and Woman Owned Pine Point |
Imperial Aquatics | $10,000 | Small Business Minority Owned Located within QCT Forest Park |
Pine Point Variety LLC | $10,000 | Small Business Minority and Woman Owned Pine Point |
413 Multi-Service | $5,500 | Small Business Minority Owned Indian Orchard |
Catholic Charities Agency | $300,000 | Nonprofit Homeless Services |
New North Citizens Council | $214,000 | Nonprofit Homeless and Housing Needs |
Revitalize CDC | $200,000 | Nonprofit Support ‘Age in Place’ program for senior residents |
Central City Boxing and Barbell | $150,000 | Nonprofit Youth Development Services |
Art for the Soul | $50,000 | Nonprofit Support public art and programing |
Greater Springfield Convention and Visitor’s Bureau | $19,005 | Nonprofit Technical Assistance for downtown restaurants |
With today’s announcement, the city’s small business program has awarded, in total, approximately $6 million to 65 small businesses, with the majority of awards going to those most impacted by the pandemic. Of the small businesses which have been awarded funding, 60 or 92% are minority owned businesses.
White Lion Brewery and Dewey’s Jazz Lounge are two local Black-owned businesses receiving significant funding awards in this 8th round of ARPA funding.
Furthermore, the city has awarded over $11.6 million to 42 nonprofit organizations providing critical and much-needed services to the community. Today’s awards include support for homeless and homeless prevention programs, after-school youth programming, home repairs for seniors, and a locally significant cultural organization.
“I am proud to say that this eighth round of our local ARPA grant funding that my administration has rolled out to our small businesses and nonprofits is all about that good four-letter word, ‘JOBS’!”, said Mayor Sarno. “It’s about saving jobs, creating new jobs and growing our small businesses which are vital and so important for the economic health of our neighborhoods and our city.”
Mayor Sarno stated, “The nonprofits that have been awarded do tremendous work in our community, helping thousands of people with a wide variety of services for our residents. This COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of stress on individuals and families, and it is important to support our local nonprofits so that they can continue to assist and provide their services for our residents and the community. This grant funding that my administration is allocating will go to enhancing the services these nonprofits provide, especially to those that have been adversely affected by the pandemic.”
City Council President Jesse Lederman stated, “The economic and human impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our community today. Local small businesses and community-based organizations are essential to driving recovery on both fronts, and stood resiliently throughout the worst days. Many of these entities have been investing and believing in Springfield even before the pandemic, while others have been admirably inspired to step up in its wake. The City Council will continue to do our part in partnership with other local, state, and federal officials to support sound investment of COVID recovery funds to benefit as many parts of our community as possible,”
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Additionally, Mayor Sarno provided an update on his administration’s ongoing efforts in allocating household cash assistances directly to residents and seniors. In total, an over 2,276 ARPA household applications have been processed and approved totaling approximately $3.2 million awarded to residents and seniors.
Mayor Sarno states, “I am proud of my administrations continued efforts in committing over $3.2 million in direct cash assistance for our households and seniors, with more to come. I want to thank our finance team led by Chief Administrative and Financial Officer (CAFO) TJ Plante for working diligently to review and approve these applications and get this much-needed funding into the hands of our residents and seniors in need. Also, my thanks to our Economic Division led by Chief Development Officer (CDO) Tim Sheehan for their valuable review and insight efforts on our businesses, nonprofits and neighborhoods requesting assistance too.”
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To date, this 8th round of ARPA funding brings the total amount that has been awarded and/or allocated to approximately $90 million.
The announcement continues to highlight the Sarno Administrations commitment to utilizing the city of Springfield’s allocation of federal ARPA funding to provide relief and assistance to residents, businesses, neighborhoods and nonprofits. This 8th round of ARPA funding announcement also marks the one-year anniversary since Mayor Sarno made the initial first round of ARPA funding awards to small businesses back on December 9, 2021.
Mayor Sarno remains proud of the fact that he is the only mayor in the state and one of the few in the nation to put forth such a comprehensive and all-encompassing initiative to get local federal ARPA funding directly into the community.
“It has always been the intention of my administration to get our local allocation of ARPA funding out and into our community to our residents, businesses and nonprofits in need ASAP. My dedicated finance and economic development team have been very thorough, doing their due diligence throughout this process working with Congressman Richard Neal and the Federal Department of the Treasury for clarification and guidance on what would and would not qualify for the proper commitment and allocation of our local federal ARPA funding. We did not want to award an application only for the Feds to later come back and state that it was changing the rules on what would qualify for funding and to guard against fraudulent requests. It has been a long and arduous process but I am proud that my administration has been able to successfully roll out now 8 rounds of ARPA funding to help our residents, businesses and nonprofits while adhering to all of the federal requirements,” said Mayor Sarno.
It is important to note that the city of Springfield is on target to meet the federal requirements to have all ARPA funding committed by 2024 and allocated by 2026.
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Springfield opened applications for ARPA assistance in November 2021. Over the past year, the city has received over 400 applications for business assistance, and 115 applications from nonprofit organizations. To allow staff to focus on evaluating these requests, the city will stop taking applications for small businesses, new businesses, and nonprofit organizations as of December 31, 2022.
The ARPA household assistance program has received an overwhelming response with over 18,000 applications. Springfield will stop taking applications for this program as of January 15, 2023 and will try to award as many qualified household applications as possible with an award amount up to $1,400.
Mayor Sarno also announced and emphasized plans to utilize the remaining ARPA funding for various citywide municipal projects that will benefit our whole community, much like what was done with the many post-2011 tornado economic development initiatives projects throughout the city. This announcement will come in the very near future and will also include more neighborhood, business and nonprofit awards.
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In response to the number of individual and senior assistance applications that requested assistance for home repairs, the city created the Healthy Homes repair program, available in designated low-income neighborhoods, and an Exterior Repair program, available city-wide. The city provides significant technical support to homeowners in the repair programs, supporting the homeowner throughout the bidding and construction process. These programs are currently processing over 300 applications, and the first 35 home repair projects are underway.
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In November 2021, Mayor Sarno, CAFO TJ Plante and CDO Tim Sheehan announced the Build Back Springfield program that invested $15 million with a focus on recognizing the economic, environmental and cultural value of preserving older and locally significant landmark buildings and structures. The city seeks to encourage adaptive reuse plans to revitalize buildings that complements the neighborhood while providing for new economic growth and employment opportunities.
Today’s announcement includes the awarding of $3.27 million to three Build Back Springfield projects, in which ARPA funds will provide gap funding to projects that will advance adaptive reuse of historic or locally significant properties. A noteworthy award in this program is $2.1 million to DM Renaissance Development to redevelop the long-vacant Kavanagh building on State Street into a mix of commercial space and apartments.
Business Name | Amount Awarded | Description |
DM Renaissance Development | $2,100,000 | Redevelopment of old Kavanagh Building on State Street for adaptive reuse for mental health and mix use of commercial and residential space |
Develop Springfield | $670,000 | The Innovation Center, 276 Bridge Street, for job creation and business support initiatives |
Charlou Realty, LLC | $500,000 | 1252 Main Street (Court Square) for event enhancements and Court Square project |
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In closing, Mayor Sarno stated that the city is coming to the tail end of our local ARPA funding. He is hopeful that the State will follow Springfield’s lead and commit the billions of dollars of ARPA funding the Commonwealth has to our local municipalities and communities ASAP. When and if they do, we can review more city needs and requests.
The City of Springfield received $123.8 million in ARPA funding as part of the $350 billion federal American Rescue Plan Act designated for direct aid to state, local and tribal governments. After meeting with over 30 neighborhood councils and other organizations as part of Mayor Sarno’s citywide listening sessions to hear directly from our residents and the business community, Mayor Sarno identified seven categories in which RFP’s will be utilized to enhance projects, programs and initiatives across the city for the betterment of our residents and businesses. They include: Nonprofit Assistance, New Business Assistance, Small Business Assistance, Senior Citizen Assistance, Neighborhood/Household Assistance, Capital Projects/Public Space Improvements, and Job Creation/Economic Development
