The last of Scioto County’s small business assistance grants have been disbursed as of this week, according to the county commissioners.
The final award is $30,000 and will be assisting The Taylored Cookie & Bakery, a new business on Market Street in the Boneyfiddle area of Portsmouth. Owned by Taylor Keen, the business is at 219 Market St., which may be familiar to local fans of baked goods as the former home of Kathy’s and, prior to that, Counts Bakery.
The $30,000 will be used to make electrical upgrades and the purchase and installation of a new oven and bread proofer.
“I had the opportunity to walk through the property with the owner, Taylor Keen,” said Commissioner Scottie Powell, who said the site will also be a sort of incubator for local women-owned business. “There are other startups starting in that space.”
Essentially, the $30,000 grant will be helping establish three additional businesses at the site. They include a business called Gluten-Free Gals, which offers baked items without gluten, and a specialty ice cream business.
“They’re becoming an incubator for women-owned businesses,” Powell said.
The funds are available through the federal multitrillion-dollar American Rescue Plan, which was originally passed in 2021 at the height of the COVID pandemic. The aim was to quicken the economic recovery of small businesses throughout the country damaged by the pandemic.
Overall, it has worked in Scioto County.
“With the completion of the small business grant, there were literally hundreds of jobs created and hundreds of jobs saved,” said Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis. “We only lost one business in that time, which is a record across the state of Ohio.”
The county received $1 million and $750,000 went to saving jobs, while the remaining $250,000 went to new job creation.
“Some of these businesses not only operate here but as far north as Columbus selling their products,” Davis said. “To sum it all up, it worked. … it’s still working.”
Reach Lori McNelly at [email protected] or at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1928. © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
