Business Oregon Announces Commercial Rent Relief Grants

March 3, 2021

The Oregon Legislative Emergency Board allocated $100 million to Business Oregon for a new program to provide financial assistance to small businesses and commercial landlords impacted by the economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The program provides grants to building owners to cover outstanding lease payments from small business tenants that are behind on rent due to COVID-19. The grants can go up to $100,000 per each business tenant lease, but not more than $3 million for each landlord. The landlord must agree not to evict the tenant for six months and waive any rights to collect outstanding penalties or interest, or enforce eviction clauses related to the delinquent lease payments between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021.

The program will open for applications on Monday, March 8. Both the business tenant and property owner will need to participate in the application process and sign the grant agreement, but the initial application needs to be completed by the landlord. 

More program information and eligibility details are available on Business Oregon’s website. The application will be available on that website on March 8, 2021, and be available in multiple languages.

Changes to Scheduling Vaccine Appointments 
To help alleviate the challenges people have faced attempting to schedule a vaccine appointment at the Oregon Convention Center, the Oregon Health Authority along with All4Oregon health system partners will change the process for appointments via the Vaccine Information Tool.

All Oregonians, including senior adults age 65 and over, can now sign up to be notified about vaccination events when they are eligible. The new appointment scheduling process will be based on names being pulled at random from the Get Vaccinated Oregon tool. All4Oregon will then contact individuals to schedule their appointment. Due to limited supply, individuals may not be contacted immediately, however all eligible groups who want a vaccine will have access over the coming months.

Older adults and anyone who needs help better understanding the scheduling options are encouraged to call 211. Additional details available here.