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. The federal funding comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which made available $5 billion in Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus funds. Shawnee already receives federal Community Development Block Grant funding and has allocated about $294,000 to eligible projects this year.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post)
