[Updated 6/9/2022]– Metro Council approved $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the federal government to establish the Nashville Small Business Recovery Fund in the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development (RS2022-1356, RS2021-1303).

The funding will support Nashville and Davidson County small businesses’ recovery from the pandemic’s impacts and will bolster economic development in Nashville communities recovering from the pandemic and prior economic challenges.

Council directed $18 million for Davidson County small businesses impacted by COVID with half ($9 million) going to grants small businesses will not have to repay and half ($9 million) going to low-interest loans recipients will repay at affordable, below-market rates and terms that facilitate ease of repayment.

A portion of these funds will cover costs associated with administering the programs.
Mayor John Cooper’s Office of Economic Development engaged Pathway Lending to administer the program in accordance with the Council resolution. Pathway Lending will distribute the funds, build the online grant application portal, and put in place the teams, processes and policies needed to run the program.

The Mayor’s Office has also engaged a group of 10 nonprofits that Metro Council approved April 19 along with the allocation of $2 million to disburse across the organizations based on the scale and scope of each nonprofit’s work.

The approved nonprofits include Bordeaux Business Council, Conexión Américas, Corner to Corner, Equity Alliance, Jefferson St. United Merchants Partnership (JUMP), Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Business Incubation Center, Southeast Center For Cooperative Development, and Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce.