Inslee extends eviction moratorium through 2020, will use $15M grant to aid businesses
Governor Jay Inslee said Thursday that he’s extending the eviction moratorium and that Washington state will use a $15 million federal grant to help businesses.
He’ll extend the eviction moratorium until Dec. 31. It was set to expire Oct. 15.
“We certainly don’t need more housing insecurity in the moment of uncertainty during this pandemic,” Inslee said during a virtual press conference.
An updated proclamation with specifics will follow in the days to come, he said.
Commerce Director Lisa Brown joined the governor on the call to talk about the grant for businesses, which comes from CARES Act funding through the U.S. Economic Development Administration in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“As you know, we have previously issued $25 million in grants for partnerships through our Department of Commerce to keep small businesses afloat,” Inslee said. “... We certainly need all hands on deck to help our business owners through this time.”
Brown said the money will support new and existing programs to help businesses.
“Most of these projects come down to connecting entrepreneurs and businesses to resources,” she said.
Funding is part of that, and so is technical assistance, and “linguistically and culturally appropriate information as to what to do and how to do it in a complex world of different federal and state programs,” she said.
One effort is a modeling project with the University of Washington. It’s a pilot project using a survey tool in the fisheries industry with a goal of “early detection and prevention of outbreaks,” Brown said.
If successful, it might also be used in industries such as agriculture and healthcare.
Brown said the $15 million is: “one of the largest of these types of grants in the country, and I think it really is because of the eight project partners that we’re working with.”
That includes Washington State University’s Small Business Development Center, Restart Partners, the Association of Washington Business, Impact Washington, the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Washington Maritime Blue, National Development Council, and the Thurston Economic Development Council.
“In many ways the grant is seed money for these initiatives and to see what works, and we know that the path to recovery is not automatic or easy, but we think with this spectrum of programs and initiatives we can look forward to successful businesses and more opportunities for Washington families,” Brown said.
Agung Soetamin, general manager of Cutting Edge Meats and S and J Food Distributors in Tacoma, was on the call, and spoke about the various support he’s received, including from Impact Washington.
One example he gave was when the company purchased a new building next door. Impact Washington had advice about “how to make those segregated warehouses become more efficient, with their technical expertise.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 3:12 PM.
