LIMA — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was in Lima on Thursday discussing COVID relief grants available to Ohio businesses from the state. Ohio Small Business Development Center has state funding available for small businesses.
DeWine took a tour of Sign Solutions of Ohio, one of the businesses that applied for and received $10,000 in funding. He encouraged all Ohio small businesses to apply for funding, as the state still can provide funds.
“We always focus on the big businesses, and we seem to focus a lot on big businesses, but it’s the small businesses that really, really make a difference,” DeWine said. “One of the things that we want to talk about today is that there are four programs set aside for small businesses. That money is still available.”
Sign Solutions owner Mike Powell stressed the importance of the funding for his own business but also explained how critical the funding is for all small businesses in Lima. His company is family-owned and operated, specializing in sign making.
“It’s extremely important, especially for small business,” he said. “We support each other, we work with each other and other items. If one goes down, then that hurts the whole community. Sometimes you look at it as small, but small business makes up the economy. You just don’t see it because you don’t hear about it so much.”
DeWine said grants are available to small businesses of all kinds. Only about a third of the $300 million available from the state has been claimed by small businesses. Applicants are eligible for up to $30,000, depending on the size and type of business.
“There’s still money left if companies have not applied to them,” DeWine said. “Ohio’s coming back. We feel very good about where we are — very, very optimistic. We really just wanted to stop here and talk for a moment with Mike.”
Powell expressed his gratitude toward the governor for taking the time to visit Lima and what has been done to support himself and others.
“It does emphasize that they do care about small businesses,” Powell said. “We’re a five-person operation, so you can’t get much smaller than that. They’re interested in terms of helping small business, and that’s a great example of how they care.”
