California extends application deadline for small businesses relief grant

[January 05, 2021]    (Reuters) - California has extended the deadline for small businesses to ask for a grant to help them get through the COVID-19 crisis, after the program was overwhelmed with applications, officials said.

A pedestrian walks in front of boarded-up businesses after California Governor Gavin Newsom implemented a statewide "stay at home order" directing the state’s 40 million residents to stay in their homes in the face of the fast-spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

The Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, offering grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, opened on Dec. 30.

"Due to the high traffic, some businesses may have had trouble accessing the application," the state's Office of Business and Economic Development said in a statement late on Monday.

The deadline would now be extended by five days to Jan. 13, it added.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the $500 million scheme in November.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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