Luzerne County American Rescue funding sought to help struggling businesses and the homeless

Editor’s note: This story is part of a periodic look at projects on the request list for Luzerne County’s American Rescue Plan funding.

A wave of nonprofit entities have responded to Luzerne County’s invitation for applicants interested in the county’s American Rescue funding, including some focused on helping businesses and the homeless, a review of submissions show.

Council has approximately $96.1 million left to earmark from its $112.89 million federal American Rescue allocation.

A request for $15 million was collectively submitted by four county chambers of commerce — Back Mountain, Greater Hazleton, Greater Pittston and Greater Wyoming Valley — to establish the “Luzerne County Small Business Sustainability Grant Program.”

This program would provide two categories of recovery support to small businesses: short-term operational recovery and long-term functional sustainability, the pre-application said.

The short-term funds would provide a cash infusion to cover operational expenses, such as rent/mortgage, utilities, supplies, equipment and payroll, it said.

Long-term funds would help pay for investments designed to strengthen businesses for the future, such as upgraded technology, renovations to expand services and e-commerce or marketing programs to encourage growth.

Applicants would be urged to purchase project goods and services from county businesses to increase the benefits of the allocation, it said.

There are more than 6,000 small businesses in the county with up to 19 employees, and many have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, labor shortages, increased wages and an unpredictable supply chain, it said.

“These challenges have caused a few businesses to close their doors, but most are doing what they can to hang on. For those businesses, a little bit of help can go a long way toward growth and progress for the future,” the pre-application said.

Manufacturers

The nonprofit Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resources Center Inc. in Hanover Township is seeking $250,000 from the county to assist small- and mid-sized manufacturers.

This funding would provide up to 40 county-based manufacturers with up to 40 hours of free expert, hands-on consulting assistance on how to recover from COVID-19 consequences that continue to hinder their recovery, growth and job creation, the pre-application said.

In the third quarter of 2019, the county’s manufacturers employed 16,742 county residents and provided an average annual wage of $56,862, or more than $9,000 above the overall county average of $47,737, it said.

There are currently 15,985 manufacturing employees in the county, it said.

These businesses continue to face workforce challenges, supply chain disruptions, higher fuel and transportation costs, unpredictable price fluctuations and a myriad of other challenges, it said.

Homelessness

In downtown Wilkes-Barre, the Keystone Mission and Diamond City Partnership submitted a joint application requesting $5.2 million.

The Diamond City Partnership portion of the request seeks a total $1.2 million to provide $400,000 in funding annually for three years to expand the “Clean and Safe Ambassador Program.”

This funding would add five new ambassadors. In addition to cleaning, these workers would welcome and direct people, answer questions and report suspicious or illegal activity. Team members would wear uniforms, receive appropriate training and supervision and work with city police, the Keystone Mission and area social service professionals to connect at-risk individuals with the services they need, it said.

The remaining $4 million would help fund the Keystone Mission’s planned transitional housing facility in downtown Wilkes-Barre, which would provide both shelter and full access to resources that transition the homeless to productive lives.

The pandemic’s major shift to remote work has decreased downtown Wilkes-Barre’s customer base by 80%, and the void has been replaced by an influx of homeless and at-risk individuals, the pre-application said.

“The result is an increased perception that the downtown, the heart of the county seat, is not safe,” it said.

Other similarly-sized cities experiencing these issues are addressing the problem by expanding their safety teams, it said. The Diamond City Partnership already has a team of three funded by the Business Improvement District focused on cleaning sidewalks, removing graffiti and beautifying the downtown with hundreds of flower baskets and planters, it said.

”We believe that expanding this team to include safety ambassadors will help address the increase of people behaving poorly within the downtown core and further damaging the public perception of the downtown’s safety and comfort,” it said.

Among the other applicants:

• Also in Wilkes-Barre, Volunteers of America of PA is seeking $610,826 in county funding toward a $1.35 million project to convert a deteriorating property at 130 E. Division St. to house at least six affordable, one-bedroom independent living units and community/medical respite day space for homeless people who are medically fragile, its application said.

• The Willow Foundation in Hazleton is seeking $565,250 toward a $1.3 million expense of staffing and operating an emergency day shelter for individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the county’s southern half, its pre-application said.

• Dress for Success Luzerne County in Wilkes-Barre is seeking a total $200,000 — $50,000 annually for four years — toward its expenses providing support services, career clothing and workforce skills to women attempting to re-enter the workforce. The nonprofit serves low-income women who have experienced disruptions in their lives stemming from the pandemic, unemployment, homelessness, domestic violence and incarceration, it said.

The county administration sought the American Rescue pre-applications at the request of some council members to ensure no needs or options were overlooked.

The county received $186.8 million in funding requests as a result — $171.58 million from more than 100 outside entities and $15.26 million from county government departments, county Acting Manager Brian Swetz has said.

Council is currently reviewing the requests and has not publicly discussed how it intends to reach a decision. Eligibility of projects also must be determined.