North Iowa Reporter

The Clear Lake City Council and the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors have a common goal.  

They both want to make sure small businesses in their communities survive the COVID-19 pandemic and they are each willing to put $100,000 in to relief fund launched by the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation to make sure it happens, according to the the Globe Gazette.

The relief fund will help local small businesses pay for expenses like payroll for their employees and utilities.  

Businesses with 25 employees or less will be the priority and the funding program wants small businesses that have not qualified for other recovery assistance to apply.

"We’d be looking at businesses that weren’t able to capitalize on state or federal programs that have already been done," North Iowa Corridor President and CEO Chad Schreck told the Globe Gazette.

Board Chairman Tim Latham said he supports the relief fund because he knows what it's like to be a small business owner and small businesses have been making positive contributions in his community for years, according to the the Globe Gazette.

The Mason City Council still has to sign off on the relief program but Schreck hopes to have relief funds available by the week of April 24, according to the the Globe Gazette.

Mason City has scheduled a public hearing on the matter on April 21. Clear Lake also has a public hearing scheduled on April 20.