LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid business owners who experienced financial hardships as a result of the multi-year construction project on Main Street can now apply for a grant to help make up for their losses.

The Essex County Industrial Development Agency received a North Elba Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund grant for $264,000 this past November to create the “Town of North Elba Main Street Construction Economic Hardship Business Grant Program.” While 10% of that grant funding will go toward program delivery and grant administration, according to IDA co-Executive Director and CEO Carol Calabrese, the remaining $237,000 will be issued to local for-profit businesses in grant packages ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.

Only for-profit businesses are eligible for the grants. Applicants can have no more than 25 full-time equivalent — or FTE — employees and annual gross revenue up to $3 million. The grants could be used for operating expenses, working capital — including rent and mortgage payments — and marketing.

Eligible businesses are located on Saranac Avenue from 1930 Saranac Avenue — the Price Chopper Plaza — to Main Street; on Main Street from Brewster Park to the intersection of Main and Sentinel Road; and from the intersection of Main Street and Sentinel to 5920 Cascade Road — the Courtyard Marriot hotel in Lake Placid.

The IDA also received a $225,000 LEAF grant in April 2021 to provide coronavirus relief, as well as relief from the Main Street construction project, for local businesses with fewer than 25 FTE employees. Calabrese said several of the parameters for the new grant program that exclusively provides Main Street construction relief — including the geographic areas for eligible businesses — are taken from the initial COVID-19 relief program, which was mainly aimed at Lake Placid businesses that suffered financial losses as a result of decreased store traffic and other pandemic-related detriments.

A public meeting about the new grant program and application process will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. on March 1 in the first-floor meeting room of the North Elba Town Hall. People can also attend the meeting virtually at meet.goto.com/914832837 or by calling 872-240-3311 and dialing the access code 914-832-837.

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Applying for grants

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Calabrese offered a “loose” timeline for the application process. After applications are submitted — they’ll be due on March 20 — and vetted for eligibility, she said a volunteer committee of around five people who live and work/have businesses in Lake Placid will review the applications and recommend grant recipients to the IDA’s board, which hopes to finalize grant recipients by mid-April and distribute the funds before the busy season starts. It’s “a lot of work in a little bit of time for everybody,” she said, but the IDA believes it’s important to get the money back out into local businesses’ hands before the spring and summer to maximize potential profits.

All applicants for the Main Street construction relief grants are required to attend a virtual four-hour entrepreneurial training session, hosted by the SUNY Canton Small Business Development Center, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 4. The SBDC plans to distribute applications to prospective applicants immediately after they complete the training. Applicants will then be able to schedule appointments with the SBDC to get free assistance with application preparation.

To register for the training program, email sbdc@canton.edu with your name, business name and intent to participate in the virtual program. People can also register by calling 315-386-7312 and stating their intent to participate. Be sure to reference the program’s name — the “Town of North Elba Main Street Construction Economic Hardship Grant Program Entrepreneurial Training Program.”