How one small South County town is supporting its businesses during COVID

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Silicon Valley Business Journal on September 24, 2020 and is re-posted here with permission.

​The MOHI Farm @ Granada Theater restaurant in Morgan Hill used a $2,500 city grant to turn its sidewalk dining space into an inviting place to eat.

Small businesses and small towns often share resource problems in good economic times. During Covid times, it can be the pits.

“If our businesses aren't selling their products, then they're not making money, which means the city's not making money,” said Morgan Hill Mayor Rich Constantine. “So, yeah, we understand that symbiotic relationship.”

But Morgan Hill has created a grant program for businesses, cobbled together from city funds and business donations from locally based Shoe Palace, Home Depot and ACE Hardware, that’s part of a larger effort to make doing business outdoors as easy as possible because outdoor business is pretty much the only thing happening while people are masked and meandering.

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