The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on many businesses in New Hampshire, and around the country. The federal government passed the CARES Act with much of the bill intended to provide much needed assistance to both individuals and businesses. The bill also provided emergency funding to states of which New Hampshire was allocated $400 million. NH has created the Main Street Relief Fund to provide some assistance to small businesses who have been negatively financially impacted by the pandemic. If you own and operate a business in New Hampshire, or know someone who does, please pass this information along because time is running out to apply for additional stimulus.

Who is eligible to apply?

The eligibility requirements are quite broad. However, just because you are eligible to apply, does not mean you will receive any funding (more on that later). Here are the current parameters to apply in NH:

• Business must have its principal place of business in New Hampshire

• Generated less than $20 million of revenue in 2019

• Also, healthcare, childcare, and agriculture businesses are excluded from the program (they are addressed through other programs) ¹

How do you apply?

In order to apply you must complete your prequalification application by May 29th, 2020 . If this form is not completed by then, your business will be ineligible for funding. The prequalification applications will be used to determine how the funds are to be allocated, and final eligibility requirements .

On June 1 st , New Hampshire will announce the specific qualifications for eligibility based on the responses received from the prequalification forms. After this date, if your business meets this future criteria , you must submit your formal application by June 8th, 2020 . More information about where this final application can be filed will be released when the information is available.

Once again, it’s important to fill out the prequalification application that is due this Friday, May 29 ^th in order to possibly be eligible for any funds. Also, when the final application becomes available on June 1st , this needs to be submitted by June, 8 ^th .

What information will need to be provided?

The prequalification application for New Hampshire is rather brief. It will ask for you r basi c business information (business name, address, tax identification number, etc.), your 2019 gross receipts and an estimate for 2020, and details about any other financial stimulus your business has received from other government programs.

If you do not yet have your 2019 information, they ask that you make a best estimate from the data available. Of course, you will not know what your 2020 gross receipts will be, so this will be a best estimate. New Hampshire will ask for your actual numbers from your 2020 return, and depending upon the final criteria and what is reported, excess funds may need to be repaid to the program.

For more details you can review the FAQ page about the program.

Summary:

Many businesses are struggling to get by during these difficult times. The federal government has provided some support, but there may be more available through the states, like New Hampshire, if needed. In order to potentially get access to these funds you need to act quickly and fill out the prequalification application by the end of the week, then submit the final application the week after.

^{1 https://www.goferr.nh.gov/covid-expenditures/main-street-relief-fund}