Surry County will put $50,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act funds toward a grant program for small businesses administered by its Economic Development Authority.

Congress last year passed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, including a state and local fiscal recovery fund that provided just over $1.2 million to Surry County last May based on its population of roughly 6,500.

According to Yoti Jabri, the county’s director of economic development, the “Surry County Business Recovery and Reinvention Grant Program,” as it’s been named, will provide one-time grants of up to $5,000 to businesses with 25 or fewer employees, provided they demonstrate a “sustainability plan.”

The program will be limited to businesses that have a current business license from the county or any of its three towns, and have been operational for at least 12 months.

The money is intended to combat “unplanned costs” and “help enable companies to make changes to their business models, adapt to new technologies or practices and otherwise reinvent their businesses to cope with economic and public impacts from the pandemic,” Jabri said.

The program will likely start in May or June.

Applications are to be submitted to Linda Gholston, workforce development coordinator, at lgholston@surrycountyva.gov, by mail to P.O. Box 65, Surry, VA 23883 or in person by calling 757-294-5090 to make an appointment.

The EDA will decide which of the applying businesses receive grants.

Surry’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on April 7 to approve the program and allocate funding to the EDA. Dendron District Supervisor Michael Drewry abstained, citing his status as a small-business owner.