Ripley County Businesses Eligible for COVID-19 Response, Phase 3 Grant

Ripley County was recently awarded $250,000 in federal grant funding to assist businesses throughout the county.

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(Versailles, Ind.) – Ripley County has been awarded a $250,000 grant through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) COVID-19 Response, Phase 3 grant.

Ripley County will be providing grants of up to $10,000 to assist any eligible business. Eligible businesses include those that have proven to have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, have less than 100 employees, and must be located in Ripley County or in Batesville within the limits of Franklin County.

Ripley County applied in previous rounds (phase 2), and received funding to support 35 eligible businesses located within Ripley County, including Bird In A Tree Boutique. As a boutique owner, Lori Rennekamp explains, “It [the grant] helped [me] continue operating and retain employees,” and “I would encourage any business to apply.”

The grant committee, also known as the Ripley County Economic Recovery Taskforce (RCERT) is made up of the Ripley County Economic Development Commission, Batesville Economic Development Commission, Ripley County Chamber of Commerce, Ripley County Tourism, Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (SIRPC).

More information, including application guidelines, will be available in the upcoming weeks.