DAYTON–Innovia funding allows the Port of Columbia to offer start-up business grants in Columbia County.

The Port has received a $15,000 award from Innovia, a community foundation that serves eastern Washington and northern Idaho, allowing them to offer micro-grants to start-up businesses. Each award will not be in excess of $5,000, and one hundred percent of the funds will be passed on to qualifying awardees.

Qualifications for applying include, but are not limited to:

• Business Plan

• Business License

• Ability to have a business location physically secured, in Columbia County, within 30 days of the grant award

• Copies of estimates of planned expenditures or invoices of expenses incurred

• Must be a business that has not yet started operating or has not been in operation more than three months

• Has not received any previous grants from the Port of Columbia

In 2020, the Port offered a similar program with funds received from Innovia. That program assisted in the location of two new businesses in downtown Dayton–Main Street Marketplace and Table Rock Meat Co.

Grant information and an application form can be found on the Port’s website at https://www.portofcolumbia.org/economic-development/business-assistance/ . Applications are due September 30.