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Grant Amounts
Grant amounts are determined by two factors:
- The rent, lease, or mortgage payments that a business makes for its building. The grant amount will never be more than the amount of these payments.
- A calculation based on revenue decline combined with the number and type of jobs created by the business. See below for the calculation.
Grant Amount Calculation: The Grant Amount is equal to (the Base Grant Amount plus Wage Bonus) multiplied by (the number of new FTEs).
Base Grant Amount: The base grant amount is determined by the revenue decline from 2019 to 2020, as follows:
Revenue decline Base grant amount
Less than 20%: $10,000
20% to less than 40%: $12,000
40% to less than 60%: $14,000
60% to less than 80%: $16,000
80% and higher: $18,000
Wage Bonus
Businesses that pay a higher average wage for their new FTEs are eligible for wage bonuses as follows:
Average wage of over $13/hr: $1,000 bonus Average wage of over $17/hr: $2,000 bonus
Definition of FTE
FTE means “full-time-equivalent” employee, which is an employee that works 40 hours per week. An employee that works less than 40 hours per week can be considered a percentage of an FTE. For example, an employee that works 20 hours per week is a 0.5 FTE; an employee that works 10 hours per week is a .25 FTE, etc.
The application will calculate the amount based on the information you submit.
What is the maximum grant amount a business can be awarded?
- The maximum total grant award is $100,000. The maximum distribution per quarter is $25,000.
- The grant amounts paid to a business can’t be greater than amount of rent, lease, or mortgage payments for the business.
Should tips and commissions be included in the average wage?
If the tips and commissions are included in your payroll reports, they should be included in the hourly wage calculation. If they are not in your payroll reports, they should not be included.
Use of Grant Funds
What expenses can I pay with this grant?
Eligible expenses are reimbursement of rent, mortgage, or lease payments on the building occupied by the business. These are the only eligible expenses for this grant. The grant amount paid will not exceed the amount of rent, lease, or mortgage payments during the grant period.
How will those expenses be evidenced?
Applicants will provide a copy of the rent, lease, or mortgage agreement for the business. The agreement must include the past, current, and future payments that are in the grant application. In addition, applicants will provide evidence of the actual payments made, including bank statements, canceled checks, credit card statements or receipts, ACH transaction, or other proof of payment.
General Program Information
- The final application round will close on December 31, 2021.
- Grant applications will be prioritized after the close of each application round. The prioritization will be based on the revenue decline experienced by a business during the pandemic. Businesses with more severe revenue declines will receive higher priority.
- The only eligible expenses that a grant can be used for are reimbursements of rent, lease, or mortgage payments for the building occupied by the business. The grant amount cannot exceed the rent, lease, or mortgage payments paid during the grant period.
- The grant amount is based on a combination of the revenue decline experienced by the business, the number of new full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions hired, and the hourly wages of the new positions.
Businesses will use the following employee (FTE) counts in the grant application:
- The lowest number of employees during the pandemic in either of two specified quarters, as follows: this number will be found on the DWS ES903A report for either December 31, 2020 or March 31, 2021, whichever is lower.
- The highest number of employees. This number will typically be pre-pandemic and will be found on a DWS ES903A report from January 2019 to the date of the application.
- To qualify for a grant, a business must hire new FTEs over the lowest employee count. The total number of FTEs projected in the grant application, including new employees, cannot exceed the highest employee count.
- Grants will be paid on a quarterly basis, with no more than 25% of the total grant award being paid during any quarter. Businesses must meet their job creation projections before receiving future, quarterly grant payments after the first payment.
- At least $150 million in grant funds will be available in the first funding round. At least $100 million will be reserved for businesses in urban areas and at least $50 million will be reserved for businesses in rural areas. Urban areas include Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, and the immediate surrounding area. All other areas are considered rural areas.
- $20 million has been set aside for businesses that were required to be closed as of February 26, 2021. These businesses are identified by their NAICS code and include bars and clubs, entertainment and performance venues, convention halls, theaters, racetracks. The separate funding round for these businesses closed June 30, 2022.
Grant Terms
What’s the schedule for the grant payments?
- The first grant payment will be up to 25% of the grant award and will be disbursed after the agreement is signed.
- Reimbursement requests for subsequent payments will be made on a quarterly basis. These reimbursements will be up to 25% of the grant award and will be made only if the business has met the hiring goals in the application. The grant will be a reimbursement of the business’s rent, lease, or mortgage payments, and the grant amount will not exceed the amount paid for the rent, lease, or mortgage.
- A business can skip one or more quarters if it hasn’t met its hiring goals and submit the reimbursement requests in subsequent quarters.
Other Information
Will the grants be first-come, first-served?
No. Grant applications will be prioritized in each application round based on the applicants’ revenue decline. Grants will be awarded based on the prioritization.
When will the grant awards be made?
The grant awards will be made after the closing of each application round.
What is a grant?
A grant is money given for a specific purpose without any obligation to repay the funding. Some grant programs have specific requirements that must be met. In this case, the grant funds are based on a business meeting specific job creation goals. This grant does not need to be paid back.
Can new or start-up businesses apply?
No. A business had to have been in operation on or before October 1, 2019 in order to apply.
Can an owner apply for multiple businesses?
Yes, as long as the businesses have different Federal Employer Identification Numbers (FEIN).
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Reimbursement Information
- Quarterly reimbursement requests reimburse businesses for rent, lease, or mortgage payments for up to 25% of the total grant award per quarter.
- Businesses must have hired employees above their adjusted baseline number in the grant application and above the “FTEs approved for” number in the reimbursement request to be eligible for a reimbursement.
- Each quarterly reimbursement request may be submitted after the quarter has passed. Each request must be submitted separately. Businesses that have not hired employees above the “FTEs approved for” number in their reimbursement request in a particular quarter do not have to submit a reimbursement request for that quarter.
- The quarterly reimbursement requests are based on your quarterly payroll reports and should be submitted in chronological order beginning with the second quarter of 2021 (April – June 2021) if the business hired FTEs above the “FTEs approved for” in the reimbursement request application in that quarter. Businesses that have not hired employees above the “FTEs approved for” number in the reimbursement request do not have to submit a reimbursement request for that quarter. Instead, those business would submit a reimbursement request in the next quarter in which they’ve hired employees above the “FTEs approved for” number. Please note that you must have submitted your quarterly wage report to the Department of Workforce Solutions prior to requesting a reimbursement for that quarter.
- Reimbursement requests must be submitted one at a time. Subsequent requests may be submitted after the request status of a previous request is changed to “approved.”
Reimbursement "How To" Video
When can I submit a Reimbursement Request?
You may submit the first reimbursement request for the quarter in which you’ve hired FTEs above the “FTEs approved for” number in your reimbursement request application. The time period for hiring back the FTEs is April 1, 2021 to present.
What’s the time period that should be included?
The first reimbursement request will be for the quarter in which the business has hired FTEs above the “FTE’s approved for” number in the grant application. The reimbursement requests may start for the second quarter of 2021, which includes the months April, May, and June, if the business has hired at least 25% of the projected FTEs. The next reimbursement requests would be for the 3rd quarter, then the 4th quarter and so on.
When can I submit the next Reimbursement Requests?
Subsequent reimbursement requests may be submitted if you’ve hired back additional FTEs. The status of each submitted reimbursement request must be “approved” before subsequent reimbursement requests may be submitted.
When is the deadline for Reimbursement Requests?
Reimbursement Requests will be accepted through September 15, 2023. The second quarter of 2023 is the last period in which a business can meet the hiring goals in the grant application in order to be eligible for funding.
Required Documents needed for each Reimbursement Request
- Proof of rent, lease, or mortgage payment for the entity’s place of business in New Mexico. Acceptable documents include bank statements, canceled checks, credit card receipts, or proof of ACH transfer. The time period to use for the payments is March 2019 to present. Submit no more than 25% of your total rent, lease, or mortgage payments for that time period with each reimbursement request.
- Copy of the DWS ES903A report (or other New Mexico SUTA form filed with the Department of Workforce Solutions) for the applicable quarter.
- A supplemental payroll report that demonstrates hours worked by each employee and wages for the applicable quarter.
Technical Assistance
If you need any technical assistance such as computer access or wi-fi, contact our partners at the New Mexico Small Business Development Center.
Submitted Application
I’ve submitted my grant application. What happens next?
Submitted grant applications begin the review process, which may take 2-3 weeks. If your application is missing any documentation or if we need more information, the reviewer assigned to your application will contact you via email and you’ll be given an opportunity to make the corrections.
Applications will be reviewed and prioritized after the close of each application round.
You will be notified once your grant application has been approved or declined.
If you’ve already submitted a grant application, you do not need to submit another application. Duplicate applications will not be reviewed.