Grant Aid for Hotels and B&Bs impacted by the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (Maryland)

Baltimore City, under the leadership of Mayor Scott, has decided to continue to provide direct aid to impacted industries with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funding.

Donor Name: Visit Baltimore

State: Maryland

City: Baltimore

Type of Grant: Grant

Type of Entity: Hotels and B&Bs

Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 02/06/2022

Details:

A total of $2.5 million has been reserved for the establishment of an Economic Recovery Fund for Hotels (NAICS 721110 & 721191) impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Visit Baltimore has been designated to administer the funds on behalf of the City.

Eligible Costs

To meet United States Department of Treasury guidelines and ensure the assistance provided to organizations responds to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, uses of funds are restricted to the following:

  • Working capital such as rent, payroll, utilities and job training up to 6 months
  • Professional services (e.g., marketing, hiring, accounting, sanitization/janitorial, etc.)
  • Purchase of equipment and services to expand outdoor service delivery
  • Certain infrastructure improvements related to the mitigation of COVID-19 such as HVAC upgrades and improvements to support social distancing such as physical barriers
  • Technology to support telework for employees and online sales platforms
  • Purchase of PPE and other COVID-19 related supplies
  • All expenses not expressly mentioned are excluded. Prohibited costs include debt service payments, rent or mortgage payments for home-based businesses, legal settlements or judgements, costs reimbursed by another funding source, extraordinary deposits into pension or retirement funds and deposits to financial reserves.

Applicant Eligibility

You are eligible for grant funds if you meet the following criteria.

  • You are a hotel or bed-and-breakfast with NAICS Code 721110 or 721191.
  • You are in good standing with the state of Maryland and City of Baltimore, and up-to-date on Hotel Tax payments and Tourism Improvement District (BTID) assessment payments.
  • You are located within the City of Baltimore.
  • You are subject to the accommodations tax imposed by and in good standing with the city of Baltimore.
  • You were established prior to July 2019.
  • You can demonstrate the negative impact of COVID-19 by providing a summary of (a) overall revenue reductions and expense increases incurred for the period from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021; (b) itemized list of other (if any) local, state, and federal relief funds received and how funds were used to address the impact of COVID-19 on the organization, and (c) information on an existing operational gap after receiving relief funds.
  • You can demonstrate negative impact of COVID-19 by providing federal income tax return or financial statements showing 25% or greater reduction in revenue adjusted for COVID-19 costs in 2020 over 2019.
  • You can provide FEIN, W9, and an audit or federal return no older than calendar year 2019.
  • You agree to complete a Performance Report in September 2022 and April 2023.
  • You accept grant payment via ACH.

For more information, visit Hotel Grants.