A heads-up for Northport, Omena, and Leelanau Township: A new fund was created to support businesses with fewer than nine full-time employees, specifically located in Leelanau Township, that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Leelanau Township Community Foundation partnered with Venture North, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, awarding $25,000 to Venture North’s Regional Resiliency Fund. At the foundation’s request, Venture North will seek matching funds, in addition to the foundation’s gift, to assist eligible Leelanau Township businesses with grants of up to $5,000. The funds are intended to help locally owned small businesses survive the COVID-19 crisis, to support their efforts to pivot to meet new or changing demand, or to assist them to safely remain open.

Applications for the grants are available online or by calling Venture North at 231-357-6776. The application takes about 20 minutes to complete.

The application for Leelanau Township businesses is open until funds are exhausted.

If your business is not in Leelanau Township, stay tuned. The Regional Resiliency Fund hopes to open for another round of applications to small businesses across Benzie, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau Counties in August.

Photo by Megan Ernst