BUSINESS
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
A sign from the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce along East
Main Street in Hermiston advises shoppers that businesses
are open on Nov. 20, 2020.
April brings new
grant opportunities
for businesses
affected by pandemic
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edITOr
State and federal COVID-
19 relief legislation will
present more grant opportu-
nities to businesses in April.
The Restaurant Revital-
ization Fund is a $28.6 bil-
lion grant fund created by
the American Rescue Plan,
the latest federal stimulus
package. The Small Busi-
ness Administration has not
named a specific date yet for
applications to begin, but
has said it expects to open
the application period some-
time in April.
According to the SBA,
the fund will provide tax-
free federal grants to restau-
rants, bars, food trucks and
other eateries to cover their
losses caused by COVID-
19 and related restrictions
since February 2020. The
list of eligible items for the
grant money to be spent
on includes payroll, rent or
mortgage, utilities, food and
beverages, cleaning sup-
plies, paid sick leave and
expenses related to creat-
ing outdoor dining areas.
Publicly traded companies
or those with more than 20
restaurants are not eligible.
The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce is urging restau-
rant owners to prepare now,
before the grant period
opens, by registering with
the federal System of Award
Management and preparing
documentation of gross rev-
enues for 2019 compared to
2020. More information can
be found at restaurantsact.
com.
On April 8, the Small
Business
Administration
also expects to open applica-
tions for the Shuttered Venue
Operators grant, for venues
affected by COVID-19.
Qualifying
entities
include event venue oper-
ators, theatrical produc-
ers, live performing arts
organizations, movie the-
aters, museums and more.
For organizations in oper-
ation before January 2019,
grant awards will be for
45% of gross revenues from
2019 or $10 million, what-
ever is less. More informa-
tion is available at sba.gov/
funding-programs/loans/
covid-19-relief-options/
shuttered-venue-
opera-
tors-grant.
Business Oregon just
closed its first round of
applications for the Com-
mercial Rent Relief Grant,
but expects to open up
another application period
in mid-April. The grant is
available to help commercial
landlords and small busi-
ness owners by providing
rent money for tenants with
fewer than 100 employees
that have fallen behind on
their rent payments because
of the pandemic.
More information can be
found at oregon4biz.com/
Coronavirus-Information/
CRR.
Locally, chambers of
commerce, the Umatilla
Electric Cooperative Busi-
ness Resource Center in
Hermiston and the Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege’s
Small
Business
Development Center can
provide additional informa-
tion to area businesses inter-
ested in pursuing state and
federal grants.
Deadly virus found in
Oregon, Idaho rabbits
By GEORGE PLAVEN
caPITaL Press
Oregon wildlife and agri-
culture officials have con-
firmed the presence of a
deadly virus in feral domes-
tic rabbits in a Portland sub-
urb, sparking concerns the
disease could spread to wild
rabbits in Oregon.
On March 14, the Ore-
gon Department of Fish and
Wildlife received a report
that eight domestic or feral
rabbits were found dead in
Milwaukie.
Ryan Scholz, state vet-
erinarian for the Oregon
Department of Agriculture,
was notified and had one of
the rabbit carcasses deliv-
ered to Oregon State Uni-
versity for testing. Results
came back positive for Rab-
bit Hemorrhagic Disease
Virus 2 on March 24.
The disease does not
pose a risk to humans, but
is highly contagious among
rabbits and can spread
through contact with other
infected animals or contam-
inated food and water, caus-
ing acute illness or sudden
death.
“At this point, we are
confident that all eight of the
rabbits died from RHDV2,
and the virus has taken hold
in the feral rabbit popula-
tion,” Scholz said.
ODA and ODFW are ask-
ing the public to report any
dead rabbits as the agencies
track the virus by calling
1-800-347-7028 or visiting
www.oda.direct/RHD.
HELP PREVENT
SPREAD
The Oregon Department
of Agriculture recom-
mends several steps to
prevent the spread of
Rabbit Hemorrhagic
Disease:
• Wash and disinfect
hands, clothing, gloves,
footwear, cages and
equipment between
handling rabbits from
different sources.
• Quarantine new rabbits
away from existing ones
for 30 days.
• Keep pet rabbits inside
to avoid exposure.
• Immediately contact
ODA if you suspect RHD
or have sick or freshly
dead rabbits.
• If you have animals not
freshly dead, double plas-
tic bag them and dispose
of in a landfill.
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Dis-
ease was also recently dis-
covered in two wild jackrab-
bits in Ada County, Idaho,
southwest of the Boise
Airport.
There is no treatment,
cure or vaccine for the dis-
ease. Symptoms in rab-
bits may include fever, leth-
argy, lack of appetite, lack
of coordination, excite-
ment or nervousness, diffi-
culty breathing, congested
membranes around the eyes
or bloody, frothy nasal dis-
charge at death.
herMIsTOnheraLd.cOM • A7