Free Money: Apply for the Shop In Utah Grant

Did your business or nonprofit lose money due to the COVID-19 pandemic? You can get money back with the Shop In Utah grant.

As part of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, we at the Office of Outdoor Recreation want to make sure you’re aware of an opportunity for a state grant: Shop In Utah. Outdoor suppliers, retail, manufacturers,

service-based or education-based organizations, and nonprofits, can apply to receive up to the lesser of $50,000 or your organization’s revenue decline.

You likely know by now that our mission at the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation is to ensure all Utahns can live a healthy and active lifestyle through outdoor recreation, and you are a big part of making that mission

possible. Our office provides grant funding for outdoor recreation infrastructure and outdoor youth programming, organizes an annual Outdoor Recreation Summit, and helped create Utah’s Every Kid Outdoors Initiative.

We also work to be a resource for organizations like yours to help you be successful here in Utah and continue to provide the great services you do.

You can receive back lost money up to the lesser of $50,000 or your business’s revenue decline. All you need to do is pass on the equivalent of 50% of the grant amount to your customers.

For example, if you lost $20,000 in revenue due to COVID-19, you are eligible for a $20,000 grant. Before December 30, 2020, you must offer a discount to your customers with an overall value of at least $10,000. The customer must redeem the incentive prior to June 21, 2021. You can run a promotion, discount your overstocked inventory to help move it faster or extend additional discount to long-time customers or partners. Anything you do to pass the savings on to your customers qualifies you to receive the grant.

We know everyone’s business was affected differently and we want to make sure there is flexibility to use this grant money the best way possible for your business.

Here are a few ideas of how your business can use the Shop In Utah Grant.

   – Run a short term promo until the requirement is met

   – Offer a discount to a partner to ensure continued success or help close a potential sale

   – Discount your overstock or extra inventory

   – Offer a discount to encourage bookings between now and the end of the year

   – Create a frequent customer program to encourage returning customers during COVID recovery

   – Partner with other businesses to offer packages and promos

   – Offer discount programming before the end of the year

   – Offer discount for any program that will take place in early 2021. It must be booked by December 30, 2020 and the customer must redeem the incentive prior to June 21, 2021

   – Create a limited time promo for discounted membership

   – Did your business experience a revenue decline due to the public emergency related to COVID-19?

   – Was your business in operation on March 1, 2020?

   – Does your business have 250 or fewer full-time equivalent employees?

   – Does your business have employees who are physically located in Utah?

   – If awarded a grant, do you agree to provide a financial incentive that equals or exceeds 50% of the award amount for individuals or businesses to make purchases from your business?

   – Do you acknowledge that your business is required to keep records of the discounted goods and/or services and the records may be subject to audit?

   – How will the use of funds benefit the state economy?

   – You are not eligible for the Shop In Utah grant if you received funding from the COVID-19 Cultural Assistance Grant Program (‘Create In Utah’).

   – Applications open at 9 a.m. on Monday, July 27, 2020

   – Max grant amount: $50,000

   – The amount of a grant may not exceed the amount of the business entity’s revenue decline. Revenue decline will be calculated:

To apply and get more information, please click here.