Westmoreland County small businesses and nonprofit agencies will have to wait until September to find out if they’ve been award grants through the county to compensate them for lost revenue and expenses related to the coronavirus.

Commissioners said Tuesday the process to review the 450 applications submitted in late July for grants of up to $25,000 has lagged, in part, because of the detailed financial information asked for in the submissions.

“We are doing our due diligence, and we know it’s taking longer than we wanted to get the money out,” Commissioner Sean Kertes said.

Commissioners initially said about a third of the $31.5 million of federal funds allocated to the county would be awarded this summer as part of a first round of grants doled out to small businesses and nonprofits. Applications from 325 small businesses and 125 nonprofit agencies were submitted.

Applicants had about a week to complete the funding requests, including detailed financial calculations about revenue losses and itemized expenses attributed to the pandemic.

The vast amount of information required resulted in some confusion, commissioners admitted. Applicants with missing or incomplete information are being contacted and allowed a 48-hour window to amend the requests.

“We’re hoping we can award at least one of these groups grants in September,” said Commissioner Gina Cerilli. “We want this money to go out as soon as possible.”

The Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland is being paid $60,000 to review the applications and make recommendations to the commissioners.

To date, about 120 applications have cleared the first review and are being evaluated by commissioners.

“It’s a stack that’s about three feet high,” Commissioner Doug Chew said.

In July, commissioners said small businesses, nonprofits and government entities would each be awarded $10 million in grants. That money must be spent by year’s end, according to federal guidelines.

A second round of grants is expected to be announced this fall, with a revised set of requirements to streamline the application process, commissioners said.

Commissioners also are evaluating how to spend money earmarked for local governments, including suggestions from residents who have lobbied that those funds be used for coronavirus testing, contact tracing and internet access improvements.

Contact tracing in cases where residents have tested positive for the coronavirus is being conducted by the state Department of Health. County officials said they are seeking clarification as to whether that program will continue and whether local governments can use federal funding for that purpose.

“That’s is why we are hesitant to spend that last $10 million, in case we still have to use it,” Cerilli said.

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