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The City of Chula Vista partnered with the San Diego Foundation and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to provide $3.6 million in grants to small businesses and nonprofits.
But when it came to doing that, some companies that were notified they would receive the award didn’t get it.
Jamie Paris is a mother of two babies and runs a small public relations firm with two employees.
Like many small business owners, Paris has struggled to keep it going during the pandemic.
“When COVID hit, many businesses obviously decided to suspend their services,” Paris said.
Parris said she sometimes paid her employees, but never herself.
She was counting on a $10,000 grant from the Small Business and Nonprofit Relief Fund.
“I was really excited about it, especially as a small business like me, I was really excited to receive these funds. It’s a lot of money,” Paris said.
On December 16th, she received a letter from SBDC. It was shown that Paris was chosen because it met the priorities established by the city of Chula Vista to finance the hardest-hit businesses.
A check for $10,000 was due in the mail in January.
It didn’t arrive. Instead, she received a letter of apology from her SBDC Executive Director Daniel Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, it states that the letter was sent incorrectly due to a data transfer error.
“I never thought something like this would happen, especially from an urban area,” Paris said.
In part of a statement emailed to NBC 7, Fitzgerald said, “When notifications were sent to winners, our system also notified some eligible applicants. It wasn’t all about priorities.”
SBDC identified only as “partial” the number of applicants who won awards that were withdrawn.
“It was a big surprise and really caught me off guard,” Paris said.
Paris could still be selected in the second round. Those notifications won’t come out until his February.
Frankly, she’s not holding her breath.
NBC 7 reached out to the city of Chula Vista. A spokesperson said the city of Chula Vista funds the Small Business and Nonprofit Relief Fund. This program is administered through the San Diego Foundation and the Small Business Development Center.
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