North Dakota Covid-19 Improvements Grant

July 17, 2020 - There is a new incentive for businesses licensed with the North Dakota Secretary of State, and the first round of applications opens July 31, 2020. This program applies to certain businesses that incur costs to help reduce the spread of Covid-19 infection at one or more physical locations in North Dakota. The goal for the program is to improve consumer confidence in the marketplace and drive spending.

Applicants must demonstrate how they directly interface with consumers and how the improvements directly benefit consumers through supply chain impacts. Businesses that are ineligible include the following: businesses with no live customer interaction (not including manufacturers), at-home businesses, and companies that can relocate employees to remote workplaces and maintain productivity. 

The incentive is a grant (not a loan) of up to $50k per eligible business or up to $100k per eligible business with multiple locations. Examples of eligible expenses include: investments that reduce repetitive touch (e.g. automatic faucets), promote social distancing (e.g. partitions), and directly control infection (e.g. masks). Expenditures incurred after March 27 may be eligible for reimbursement. It is important to keep contemporaneous logs of how the grant money is being used—those receiving funds should expect to be audited at a later date. To this end, the State recommends tracking expenses separately and ensuring that these expenses closely align with the expenses submitted to the State.

This may represent a component of your mid-year planning, and if you believe you may benefit from this incentive you should reach out to your tax planning advisor. You can also click here to learn more about the program.