March 11, 2023

3/11/2022

SHOW ME THE MONEY......

Let's face it: the last two years have been tough. Tough on retail, service and small businesses. Tough on families; tough on teachers. It has been rough getting through what we have gotten through. But take heart. You may have heard people and large companies talking about ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds and now a new acronym has popped up, SLERF which stands for Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program which is a part of the ARPA. This is where some of the $350 billion dollars is being allocated to state, local and tribal funds. Staff will not bore you with all the ins and the outs of where and how these funds were allocated. If you would like to see all the allocations and chew the "Whys" and "hows" over with your group, check out this link to the Department of the Treasury for a great overview of these funds.

PCDA mentions this map of where these types of funds come from due to a small business grant program which will be available to Ponca City businesses (with 20 or fewer employees) starting April 1st. PCDA is proud to be working with The City of Ponca City to administer this grant. Grant amounts range from $2500 to $10,000 dollars and are for COVID related expenditures from March 2021 to March 2022. There is a flyer below and more information will be announced soon to get your company/business ready to apply during the month of April, 2022. For a grant. A business grant. We don't get to say that often and we are looking forward to assisting your company through the process. More info every week this month. On your mark.....

FINDING WORKFORCE....

Has also been tough on companies and small businesses. Ponca Works has been trying to "grow our own" future workforce with internship programs and with the great certification programs available for students at Pioneer Technology Center.

A new to Ponca City program is the Bell Engineering program. This program offers remote college courses and on-the-job training through six month internships with companies. Right here in Ponca City! If your company needs engineers in its future, make sureto contact Liz Leaming, Ponca Works Manager for more information on this exciting and hands on engineering program.

MAIN STREET PONCA CITY....

One area which has weathered the pandemic and grown in shopping and small businesses is the Ponca City downtown corridor on Grand Ave. If you attended Ladies Night last week, maybe you saw the new businesses such as Farm House Kids or the new and improved Doodle Academy or Rock'n It Treasures and quite a few more. Main Street empowers communities to set their own destinies and Ponca City Main Street is doing just that.

If your business needs some marketing, customer identification or management training, make sure to give PCDA a call at 580.765.7070 or email Kat. She can get you aligned with your next steps for your small business success. And check out the Ponca City Main Street page for all the businesses and investors that make our Main Street great!

OKLAHOMA MICROLOANS

MONEY FOR BUSINESS

One microloan at a time.

REI Business Lending has microloans available up to $50,000 to help Oklahoma's small businesses that cannot obtain conventional financing. Contact REI Business Lending at 800.658.2823 today to see how they can help!