Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Chief Development Officer (CDO) Tim Sheehan joined with State Representative Carlos Gonzalez, Latino Chamber of Commerce Director Andrew Melendez and South End Citizens Council President Leo Florian to highlight the City of Springfield’s local ARPA RFP awards at Pena Lopez Auto Repair at 961 East Columbus Ave. Pena Lopez Auto Repair’s ARPA RFP application was awarded $75,000. Ms. Martinez, owner of Chabela’s Beauty Salon was also in attendance. Chabela’s Beauty Salons ARPA RFP application was also approved and awarded $19,550.
Mayor Sarno states, “CDO Sheehan and I are happy to join with State Representative Carlos Gonzalez to highlight our City of Springfield’s ARPA RFP awards. My administration and the dedicated ARPA team are proud to award Pena Lopez Auto Repair’s ARPA RFP application of $75,000 and Chabela’s Beauty Salons application of $19,550 to help provide much-needed relief and assistance through this COVID-19 pandemic. To date, my administration has awarded over $900,000 in ARPA RFP funds to local small businesses and nonprofits, of which all of the small businesses have been to minority and women owned businesses.”
State Representative Carlos Gonzalez stated, “I want to credit Mayor Sarno for these initial ARPA funds going directly to support the micro and small businesses of Springfield. These ARPA funds are a chance for the city, state and the federal governments to invest in locally owned micro businesses and provide needed help to women, Black and Latino-owned businesses that were heavily impacted by the pandemic. Diversity is our strength and equity is our goal.”
Mayor Sarno had previously announced on February 1, 2022 that the second round of Springfield ARPA RFP applications have been awarded. In total, $650,735 has been awarded in this second round of funding; $265,550 to the small businesses and $385,185 to the nonprofits. This brings the total amount of ARPA RFP funding awarded to $904,735. Mayor Sarno had previously announced in December 2021 that five small businesses were awarded a total of $254,000 in ARPA RFP funding.
Of the six small businesses awarded, three are designated as African-American/Black, two are designated as Hispanic and women-owned, and one as women-owned.
Of note, the previous round of awardees that were announced in December 2021 were all listed as minority owned businesses. Three were designated as African-American/Black, one as Hispanic and one as Asian.
This trend further emphasizes Mayor Sarno’s commitment to providing city ARPA RFP relief to minority and women owned businesses that have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
