Working Washington Grants – Request For Public Comment

Contracting with Commerce, Upcoming Opportunities

The Washington Department of Commerce’s Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness (OEDC) is seeking public comments and recommendations to inform the agency’s work on the development of the next round of COVID-19 small business recovery grants, Working Washington Grants: Round 5. The purpose of this effort is to:

1. Gather stakeholder input on a draft definition for the arts and heritage sectors;

2. Determine desirable methods of grant administration and distribution;

3. Identify potential challenges of eligibility requirements and ideas for how to circumvent those hurdles;

Feedback obtained through this Request for Public Comment process will help inform coordinated agency action in designing and implementing programs that support equitable access for small business recovery grants across the state.

Please see attached documents for webinar information for Feb 2022, timelines and Public Comment form.

• WWR5 Form – Request for Public Comment (DocX)

• Overview of WWR5 Request for Comments (DocX)

• 2/17 Webinar recording for Working Washington Grants – Request for Comment (Zoom)

Participants should be aware of the following: Participation is completely voluntary and will not result in any preference or selection for any state or federally funded contract or grant through Washington State Department of Commerce. Answer all questions in the spaces provided. Electronically submit via email to bizgrants@commerce.wa.gov by March 4, 2022.

Note: Commenters are encouraged to address any or all of the questions in this Request for Public Comment. Comments that contain references to studies, research, and other empirical data that are not widely published should include copies of the referenced materials with the submitted notes, if available.