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Office of Business Opportunity
Houston Small Business Economic Relief Program Impact Report
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Houston took action to assist small businesses economically and financially by creating the Small Business Economic Relief Program (SBERP). The program, developed by the Office of Business Opportunity, allocated $35 million of federal CARES Act dollars to provide grant dollars to eligible small businesses and chambers of commerce operating within the limits of the City of Houston.
The SBERP helped 1,072 small businesses sustain their operations with the average grant amount totaling $30,000. Recipients of the grant included micro-businesses with five or less employees, as well as businesses that were not able to obtain any other type of financial assistance from other economic relief programs such as U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds or its Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).
