Shawnee will direct federal COVID-19 funding at small businesses, public service providers

The city of Shawnee was awarded $168,955 in federal funds to mitigate the growing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. City leaders Tuesday debated how they wanted to spend the funds — whether to support small businesses or public service providers — but ultimately went with city staff’s recommendation to allocate $56,955 toward public service provider assistance and the remaining $112,000 toward business assistance. The council also supported matching the federal funding with city dollars.