Hospitality businesses in Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan counties are getting one-and-a-half million dollars in pandemic relief grants from the state Commerce Department.
In the city of Chelan, the grants went to the Apple Cup Cafe and Stormy Mountain Brewing; the Harmony Meadows Tennis Resort in Manson was also a recipient. In Douglas County, two East Wenatchee businesses received grants, and in Okanogan County, 11 businesses got grants, ranging from Magoo's Restaurant in Omak to Three Fingered Jack's Saloon in Winthrop. Grant amounts ranged from 630 dollars to the Breadline Cafe in Omak, to 155-thousand dollars for the Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel in Wenatchee.
Chelan County businesses received more than one and a quarter million dollars in grants, Okanogan County businesses got more than 146 thousand dollars, while the two Douglas County businesses got almost 103 thousand dollars in grants.
All in all, the state distributed 79 million dollars in grants, which were authorized by the state legislature last year.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has seen dramatic impacts to businesses across many sectors, the hospitality industry was hit particularly hard with continued operational challenges making it difficult for many restaurants, hotels and small hospitality businesses to fully recover. 1,493 hospitality businesses, ranging from restaurants to taverns to hotels, applied for a grant; every eligible business that applied received a grant.
To date, Commerce has distributed over $500 million in emergency relief grants to support the economic recovery stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.