SDSA Secures Four Million Dollars for Small Business Grants
After ten months of lobbying we've raised money for our cause. Small businesses dependent on the entertainment industry and operating in Los Angeles county since 2020 were able to apply for $10,000 and $25,000 grants from a pool of four million dollars.
On April 25th, the LA County Supervisors, staff of the LA County Film Office and DEO were at History For Hire to discuss the grant process. Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and County staff were present to help start the application process.
The LA County Film Office - Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) has launched a new Business Interruption Fund (BIF) for small business who supply goods and services to the entertainment industry and were impacted by COVID and the recent double Hollywood strikes.
Grants will be available at the $10,000 and $25,000 levels. The LA County BIF will go far to support small businesses that were recovering from the economic downturn of COVID when the seven-month strikes hit.
Kelly LoBianco, Director of the LA County DEO and Gary Smith, Head of the LA County Film Office partnered with the Set Decorators Society of America's Business Member committee this summer to get the word out there were no organizations, public nor private, focused on the collateral financial damages to hundreds of small entertainment business suppliers caught up in the wake of labor strikes.
The need for a business interruption fund to help cover the costs of small business until production resumed was tantamount to their staying open. LA County Supervisors, Lindsey P. Horvath, and Kathryn Barger quicky came on board with four million dollars in funding slated to be distributed to needy small businesses the end of May.
To qualify the small entertainment business supplier must gross less than three million a year, have been in operation in a COVID Vulnerability & Recovery neighborhood inside Los Angeles County in 2020 and financially affected by the double Hollywood Strikes of 2023.
Gross billing for 2023 must be under one million dollars to qualify for a $10,000 grant. Small businesses that grossed between one and three million in 2023 qualify for a $25,000 grant.
New Applications Will Be Accepted June 3 through June 7, 2024.
Application may be submitted at:
https://grants.lacounty.gov
Click Here For The BIF FAQ ›
The Entertainment Business Interruption Fund (BIF), funded by the American Rescue Plan (ARP)
The deadline to apply for the Entertainment Business Interruption Fund (BIF) has been extended with some minor updates to the eligibility criteria added that may potentially allow additional entertainment related small businesses to become eligible.
Please note that nonprofits are not eligible for this round of funding, only for-profit small businesses with less than $3 million in annual revenue, 70% of which must come from the entertainment industry.
The BIF is designed to support qualified small businesses that serve the Entertainment Industry in Los Angeles County (County). The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) through the County Film Office, is the leading the program based on the July 2023 motion by Supervisors
• Total funding: $4,000,000
• Launch date: April 25, 2024
• The application Portal has closed
More About BIF ›
