The state’s small business and nonprofit relief program opened on June 1, but the $290 million allocated is taking a while to make its way to businesses in the state.

Under current Alaska CARES Grant Program guidelines, businesses and nonprofits with 50 or fewer employees are eligible if they haven’t received assistance from coronavirus-related federal loan programs—the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Grants between $5,000 and $100,000 are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. Amounts are based on up to eight weeks of eligible expenses including payroll, debts incurred during the pandemic, rent, utilities, personal protective equipment, inventory and other reopening expenses.

The restrictions have substantially narrowed the number of businesses eligible for the program, excluding those that received any amount in federal loans, no matter how small.

Haines Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) executive director Margaret Friedenauer has helped a number of businesses in Haines apply for the state’s program in recent weeks. She said most of the businesses she’s assisted either didn’t need economic assistance immediately, decided the terms of the federal loans weren’t a good fit, or lacked the resources to apply for the loans.

Unlike the Alaska CARES Grant Program, the applications for the PPP and EIDL were complicated—well-suited for businesses with accountants on payroll to help with paperwork, Friedenauer said. A number of businesses decided not to apply because of the time and money involved in completing the applications.

For others, especially sole proprietors, the financial need was less immediate because they lacked employees, or the amount they would have been eligible to receive wasn’t worth it, Friedenauer said. In general, the businesses that needed immediate assistance or were concerned about keeping employees on payroll were the ones that went for the federal programs, she said.

HEDC is one nonprofit that skipped the federal loan applications. Friedenauer is its only employee.

“We were never going to apply for the PPP or EIDL,” Friedenauer said. “We didn’t want a loan and we were doing okay through the hardest time.”

When the state grant became available, Friedenauer applied on behalf of HEDC to help offset expenses from the past eight weeks.

In recent weeks, some business owners have been weighing the benefits of withdrawing federal loan applications, Friedenauer said. The state’s program was created after many had already applied for either the PPP or the EIDL, and for some, the state grant would be preferable since it’s fairly flexible in the way it allows business owners to spend funds and doesn’t include a payback requirement.

Florist Doris Bell is another example of a business owner who didn’t apply for a federal loan, and in doing so, lucked into eligibility for a state grant. Bell said she didn’t have the information on hand needed to apply for the PPP, and the loan wasn’t a great fit to begin with since her business lacks employees. Any grant money she receives will go toward expenses, including utilities and inventory from the past few months, she said.

As of June 15, the state’s program had received 1,465 applications according to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED). In total, Alaska has roughly 70,000 small businesses and 6,000 nonprofits.

The rate of approval has been slow. Two weeks after the program began accepting applications, only 75 had been approved.

DCCED said the low number of approvals is the result of incomplete applications. Many are incomplete the first time they are submitted. This adds extra follow up steps before an application can be processed.

Some Haines businesses that applied on the first day are still waiting for approval, even after submitting follow up information.

Bell said she applied June 1 with assistance from Friedenauer. Ten days later, she received her first communication requesting additional information. At press time, Bell was still waiting to hear about final approval.

Like Bell, Friedenauer is waiting to hear about HEDC’s application.

Friedenauer said she applied within an hour of the application opening and was promptly asked to submit additional documentation. After that, there was radio silence for roughly 10 days. She followed up and was told her application had dropped into limbo. Friedenauer said she was asked to submit additional information on June 11 but approval is still pending.

Friedenauer said while helping another business with its application, she noticed the grant’s website had changed. She said she thinks the program has been adapting throughout the month to accommodate questions and a high volume of applications.

A handful of Alaska lawmakers including senate Democrats are urging the legislature to return to Juneau to open the state’s business grant program to all businesses, regardless of whether they have received federal aid.