HUGE news! The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has approved approximately $9 million in additional funding to supplement the Business Assistance Grant Program funded by the County and the Cities of Moorpark and Camarillo. Now, ALL COMPLETED APPLICATIONS WILL RECEIVE $5,000 GRANTS! If you did not receive funding in the first round of Business Assistance Grants, please stay tuned for instructions on how to receive your $5,000 grant checks.

On Friday last week, Governor Newsom announced a new Blueprint for a Safer Economy plan to reopen the economy on a county-by-county basis. The new color-coded tiered system goes from purple (widespread), to red (substantial), to orange (moderate), to yellow (minimal). Ventura County is currently in the purple tier. Every Tuesday, state health officials will publish what tier all counties are in, based on the number of new cases in each county and the percentage of tests that come back positive for COVID-19. Currently, Ventura County is in the purple tier because there are too many new cases in Ventura County.

Additional categories of businesses will be allowed to reopen, and open businesses will be allowed to have higher occupancies, as Ventura County moves to better tiers. To progress to the red tier, Ventura County must report in the red tier for two consecutive weeks, which translates to approximately 60 new COVID-19 diagnoses per day, for a two-week period.

To see what can types of businesses can open in the different tiers, visit covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/ and select Ventura County/your business type.

Our partners at the Economic Development Collaborative will be offering a series of free webinars over the next month:

Tuesday, September 8, 10:30 AM | Register Here

Learn how to use QuickBooks to keep track of sales, manage bank accounts, create financial reports, and properly track COVID-19 loans. Live Q&A and demonstration included.

Wednesday, September 23, 9:00 AM | Register Here

A live interactive webinar focused on answering your questions on working with QuickBooks or your other financial resources to understand, monitor, and improve the financial health of your business.

Thursday, September 24, 12:00 PM | Register Here

Join associate attorneys and partners from Meyers, Widders, Gibson, Jones, & Feingold in discussing commercial leasing and finding creative solutions to tenant-landlord disputes during COVID-19. The panel will review lease provisions during COVID-19, the recent eviction moratorium, effect of bankruptcies on commercial tenancies, and strategies to achieving win-win solutions for both tenants and landlords.