In addition to its work with financial institutions on PPP loans, Northspan has supported numerous local and regional relief funds created since the start of the pandemic. In the early stages, we managed an East Range Joint Powers Board grant program and partnered with the Northland Foundation and Entrepreneur Fund to administer the regional Small Business Relief Fund (SBRF). More recently, Northspan has provided third-party verification services for applications to the Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Small Business Relief Grant in the Northland Foundation’s service area and helped administer funds for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Itasca Economic Development Corporation.
Northspan provides a neutral reviewer of documentation submitted to local units of government. We work with these partners to establish criteria and a review process, and we can manage application intake, if necessary. We then vet the applications, which often number in the hundreds even when only open for brief windows of time, to ensure applicants have completed all necessary documentation and meet the established eligibility standards.
Communities have chosen many different models for their relief funds. Some choose to split funds evenly among all applicants, while others have weighted systems of choosing where to award funds. Some have created lottery systems to select among large pools of applicants, while others have sought a scoring system to fund the businesses deemed most essential and worthy of support. No matter what our partners’ vision for their funds may be, Northspan is available to help administer them. Contact President & CEO Elissa Hansen at ehansen@northspan.org to explore Northspan’s fund administration services.
