Small businesses throughout Webster County that took a financial beating at the height of the COVID pandemic and didn’t get much help now have a second chance at relief.

The Webster County Board of Supervisors, working with the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, is once again offering grants for those businesses.

Last year, the board chose to use some of of the county’s share of its federal COVID relief money to offer grants of $2,500 to $10,000.

The first of those grants were awarded in January.

Applications are once again being accepted for the Webster County Business Recovery and Continuity Grants. The supervisors have allocated $250,000 of federal COVID relief money to supply the funding for this second round of grants.

The applications are available on the Growth Alliance web site, greaterfortdodge.com. All applications are due May 31.

There are some basic requirements for the grants. All those details are available on the Growth Alliance web site.

Also, businesses applying for grants are encouraged to contact the local Small Business Development Center.

We commend the Board of Supervisors for creating a plan to get federal relief money into the bank accounts of local employers that need it. All too often, we hear about federal funding for various well-intentioned programs being squandered, and no one seems to know where the money went. With this grant program, we will know that federal money is going to local businesses that employ local people.

We encourage business owners and managers to consider applying for these grants.