Liverpool City Council has received a positive response from its Business Resilience Grants program with the vast majority of recipients indicating the changes they made to their business as a result of Council's grants were sustainable.
50 Liverpool businesses received a grant worth up to $5,000 and Council overall provided $172,000 in financial support.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Liverpool businesses were hit hard by the downturn in the local economy.
Liverpool Mayor Wendy Waller said Council developed the grants program to assist those businesses who, while having suffered a loss of cashflow due to the pandemic, could demonstrate how they would adapt to the new operating environment.
"We all have faced significant challenges in relation to COVID-19 and our business community has shown incredible resilience and innovation in finding new ways to do business," Mayor Waller said.
"Council's Business Resilience Grants helped many businesses to stay afloat and offered a much-needed injection of financial assistance when they needed it most.
"We received some great feedback from local businesses who were able to use the funding to change their business models, for advertising campaigns, business rebranding and setting up an online presence".
Liverpool CBD based café Out of Office Espresso used the grant funds to set up a dark kitchen to operate during the evenings under a new brand, Papi's Kitchen. This addition enhanced their resilience by allowing their kitchen to operate at different times of the day, attract new clientele and re-hire staff who had been stood down.
Out of Office Espresso was awarded the Liverpool City Council Australia Day Small Business award for their resilience and innovation.
Mayor Waller said the grants program also created 42 new jobs, including two apprenticeships giving young people an opportunity to start a new career in hairdressing and manufacturing.
"Council is developing a five-year, small business development strategy to provide guidance on how Council can best support the development and growth of small businesses and to leverage the opportunities developing in the region.
"As we work towards recovery this is an exciting time for our local economy, and businesses play a pivotal role in the community.
The Business Resilience Grants program was an initiative endorsed by Council as part of its COVID-19 support package. Council has been nominated as a finalist for the NSW Local Government Excellence Awards in the category Supporting Local Enterprise for the Liverpool Business Resilience Program.
