Council approves $250,000 in additional emergency funding for Telework Assistance

For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 30, 2020

Special appropriation spearheaded by Councilmember Friedson is one element
of multi-pronged effort to assist small business and non-profit organizations

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 30, 2020—Today the Montgomery County Council unanimously approved a special appropriation of $250,000 to provide grants to businesses and non-profit organizations that incurred teleworking costs in order to retain employees and keep the light on since the beginning of the Covid-19 public health crisis in March. Councilmember Friedson, who is a member of the Planning Housing and Economic Development Committee, spearheaded this appropriation which was sponsored by the entire Council.

Many businesses and non-profit organizations have implemented teleworking policies to comply with the Governor’s stay-at-home order to reduce the spread of Covid-19, some for the first time. The Council through this special appropriation is creating the Telework Assistance Program to reimburse businesses and non-profit organizations for expenses incurred to implement a teleworking policy due to the Covid-19 health crisis.

A business or non-profit organization is eligible to receive assistance from the Telework Assistance Program if:

• its physical location is in the County;
• its County based locations account for more than 50 percent of the business’s total number of employees or 50 percent of the business’s gross sales;
• it employs 100 or less full-time-equivalent employees;
• it has not received financial assistance from the State or County for teleworking expenses related to the Covid-19 health crisis; and
• it has incurred expenditures after March 1, 2020 and before June 1, 2020 specifically to implement a teleworking policy.

Each eligible business and non-profit may be awarded a grant up to $2,500 for verified teleworking equipment and software. The grant will be based on actual expenditures for each business and non-profit organization. The Telework Assistance Program will be administered by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation.

The Council staff report can be viewed here.

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Release ID: 20-187
Media Contact: Cindy Gibson 240-777-7827