New York state has started accepting applications from small businesses for grants that range between $5,000 to $50,000 – all to get businesses to emerge from the punishing pandemic.

The grants will go toward small businesses that suffered at least a 25% drop in annual gross receipts in 2020 compared to the year before.

For businesses with annual gross receipts of between $25,000 and $50,000, the grant would be $5,000. For businesses with gross receipts between $50,000 and $100,000, the grants are $10,000. For those with receipts between $100,000 and $500,000, the grant equals 10% of that amount.

Craig Dowd and his business partner run Long Island Fashion Lab, an apparel and custom printing operation in Lindenhurst. Like a lot of businesses, they weren't aware of the grant program. But they're anxious to apply to offset losses they suffered.

“The pandemic was really rough…But when you're an entrepreneur, you're used to hurdles. You constantly have to find creative ways to make money. So we had to do a lot of pivoting," says Dowd.

The state is placing on emphasis on minority-owned businesses and businesses that operate in communities considered impoverished. The money can be used for any business-related expenses.

“We also have over 60 technical assistance experts and they're on our website,” said Pravina Raghavan, from the Empire State Development Corporation.

“They are ‘in language’ so if you don't speak English we also have technical assistance providers to help you with that. They will actually walk you through the application if you can't get your documents located for some reason.”

Learn more about the program at the Empire State Development website.