Ripley Co. COVID-19 Task Force Receives $250K Grant

The grant will help Ripley County businesses retain and create jobs.

(Batesville, Ind.) - On Aug. 27, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and OCRA announced that an additional 42 rural Hoosier communities will receive more than $10.09 million in federal grants during Phase 2. Funding for the COVID-19 Response Phase 2 funding is derived from Indiana’s CARES Act allocation.

The Ripley County Commissioners, in cooperation with the City of Batesville, applied for and received a $250,000 grant from the COVID-19 Response Phase 2 Program to provide grants of up to $10,000 to small businesses located throughout Ripley County to help the businesses retain and create jobs of which 51% of the jobs were low-to-moderate income positions.

The Ripley County COVID-19 Task Force was created to develop the application process. The Task Force was comprised of the City of Batesville Economic Development, Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, Ripley County Economic Development, Ripley County Chamber of Commerce and Ripley County Tourism along with the support of Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. The Ripley County Commissioners were the applicant and fiscal agent for the OCRA grant, with Ripley County Economic Development serving as the ‘small business grant’ administrator.

Thirty-five eligible applications were received from for-profit, small businesses throughout Ripley County and all were funded.