The Somers Small Business and Non-profit ARPA Grant Program was initiated by the First Selectman and delegated to Mike Marinaccio to implement. He created a committee composed of himself, Brian Wissinger, Allison Maynard, me, and George Krivda, our consultant, who had just assisted East Windsor with a similar project.  George’s role was to provide guidance and act as an independent review of each grant application. The application form was developed by our team and made available to the Town both online and in print. Grant applications were accepted starting at midnight, on March 1^st and closed at 4:30 pm on March 31^st. It is important to remember that the ARPA defined eligible time frame of this grant period was March 3^rd, 2021, up to the time of the application. That timeframe was post-PPP loan eligibility and consequently, the committee determined information about PPP loans (which were designed specifically to keep a company’s workforce employed during the pandemic), was inconsequential in determining grant awards for our program.  In addition, to ensure that there were no duplicate awards, the committee was sure to note that all the applicants had separate tax identification numbers. 

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