Small businesses in Ulster can receive grants of up to $35,000 to help recover from the impacts of the pandemic under the latest phase of the county CARES business assistance program. The application process for the program is currently open and will run through Dec. 11.

The grant program is run by the Ulster County Office of Economic Development and offers grants between $5,000 and $35,000 in a competitive process that assigns scores to applications based on how well they match program criteria. The money can be used for property and equipment purchases, equipment, payroll, inventory, supplies renovations and other costs.

To be eligible, businesses must have 25 or fewer employees and a primary location in Ulster County. The program is aimed at business owners with moderate income or whose employees are primarily of limited income. The application process also favors businesses seeking to recover from of pandemic losses or changes in operations.

“This is very much a pandemic response program,” said Ulster County Director of Economic Development Tim Weidemann. “So the primary use of these funds is to prevent, prepare for and respond to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.”

This is the second round for the Ulster County CARES program. Last year, 18 small businesses shared $542,983 in funding through the county’s annual Community Development Block Grant program. The awardees included a Saugerties ice cream shop, a Kingston-based almond milk manufacturer and a small theater in Phoenicia. In Ellenville, Steve Lewis got $34,000 to support Two Ravens, a small café and coffee roasting operation in the heart of the village. Lewis said he used the money to add staff, buy equipment and offer a larger selection of coffee beans and teas. That infusion of funding, he said, helped set the stage for plans to expand into an adjacent space and possibly open a second location.

“It made the business more efficient and streamlined things,” said Lewis. “It really allowed us to move forward with the next steps to expansion.”

This year, the money will come from Ulster County’s more than $34 million award under the federal American Rescue Plan Act. County lawmakers set aside $1 million in ARPA funds for direct support for small businesses. While the first round of funding was allocated on an emergency basis with rolling approvals continuing until the funds ran out, this year’s process will be more deliberative. A committee of three county legislators and three county employees will assign scores to applications with awards going to the most highly rated. Scores are based on factors like need, the viability of the proposed project, connection to the pandemic and measurable impact on the business.

Unlike some business assistance programs, Ulster County CARES is not aimed at any specific economic sector or type of business. But Weidemann said the program’s developers recognized that some sectors, like hospitality were hit harder than others by the pandemic. Weidemann said he anticipates applications from restaurants, tourism businesses and entertainment venues still trying to make up losses incurred during pandemic lockdowns and state-imposed limits on capacity.

Nevertheless, he said, he expected to see applications from a wide variety of businesses. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised in the first round by the diversity of applicants, from taxi companies to home cleaning services to food producers — just a whole range of businesses that came forward to apply for these funds,” said Weidemann. “We’re already seeing an uptick in applications, so I think we’ll end up with a strong set of applicants to review.”

The application process began Oct. 31 and runs through Dec. 11. Winners are expected to be announced sometime early next year, depending on how long it takes the committee to review and score what Weidemann said will likely be several hundred applications. Applications and other materials, including a scoring rubric, are available at www.ulstercountyny.gov/economic-development