Updates from the Office of Economic Development

City of Charlottesville Businesses,

Since March, our office has provided a series of updates including the latest news and recommendations to help keep our business community safe and viable during the pandemic. As the Commonwealth prepares to move into Phase 3 of the Forward Virginia Recovery Plan, we will continue to provide you the most relevant information to assist with reopening your business safely and successfully.

Updates of interest for businesses include:

On Wednesday, July 1, 2020, Virginia will move into Phase Three of the state’s reopening plan. This will remove capacity limits on restaurants and campgrounds; however, face covering indoors and social distancing will still be required. Gathering limits will increase from 50 people to 250 people. For the complete Phase Three guidelines Click here.
In late June, the City Council appropriated its $4.1M in CARES Act funding, with 20% of those dollars being allocated towards business support. The OED will be announcing the Small Business Relief Grant as a mechanism to disperse these funds in early July. These grants of $5,000 and $10,000 per business are intended to help small businesses that have endured significant business interruption due to the required closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project Rebound, a local economic recovery initiative for our area, recently released “A Blueprint for Economic Resiliency and Reinvention in Greater Charlottesville Region.” The report, produced by KPMG LLP, maps out economic recovery action steps for the business community. The recommended actions are based on data from stakeholder meetings and follow-up interviews with more than 300 local participants. The project was led by the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce with support from the City, County and University economic development efforts. The full Blueprint report is available HERE.
Need help getting back to business? Visit the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center for one-on–one advisory services and a variety of recovery resources. You can visit them here.

While City hall remains closed, OED staff remain available to assist you during this time. ?Please let us know if we can help. Our resource page located HERE receives regular updates and is available as a resource.

Stay safe and take care.

Sincerely,
Chris Engel, CEcD
Director, Office of Economic Development