Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – Nearly 60 small businesses in the city of Bedford received grants to support their operations Thursday.
The City of Bedford applied for and was awarded $250,000 of grant funding from Indiana’s Office of Community and Rural Affairs to support small businesses.
More than 60 businesses applied – a record number – and 58 that met qualifying criteria were approved.
Bedford Mayor Sam Craig said it marked the third time the city has received the OCRA small business funding, which was first made available during the COVID pandemic. Thursday’s awards raised the total of grants offered to local small businesses in Bedford to $750,000.
“We’re very proud to be able to do this,” Craig said.
To be eligible, businesses have to be located in the city of Bedford, have 100 or fewer employees, gross receipts equal to or less than $1 million per year and 51% of employees must earn $41,750 or below.
Brian and Lacy Hawkins, owners of Inklings Bookstore, 1020 16th St., said the grant will help cover payroll for the store’s manager.
Both the Hawkinses work full-time as teachers and owning the bookstore is part hobby, part service to the community. The store isn’t tied to their livelihood, but they need it to earn enough to be self-sustaining.
They said their business didn’t experience the initial negative effects that some businesses did during COVID. People who were staying home actually had more time to read. The online ordering segment of the bookstore also stayed busy during the pandemic.
Brian said it was when the pandemic restrictions began to lift that they saw a decrease in sales.
“People who had stocked up on books started eating out again and vacationing again,” Brian said. “This grant helps us keep the employee who runs the store and that secondary employee who helps out.”
“For us, keeping the bookstore sustainable, this takes a little bit of the pressure off of making ends meet,” Lacy said. “Getting this extra money lightens that burden a bit.”
The bookstore, in downtown Bedford for 10 years, sells books, drinks, snacks and offers reading space to customers.
“Like any small business, we’re always thinking, ‘Are we going to do enough this week to write the payroll check or pay the light bill,’ and we do, but it’s always just enough,” added Brian.
Checks were presented during a reception at the StoneGate Arts & Education Center.
“It is always an honor supporting our businesses and local community, and we enjoyed getting to hand checks to some of our local business owners,” said Ashlynne Bender, business and community development director for the city.