MARSHALL — The Marshall Economic Development Authority had more than 50 applicants for its first round of federal COVID-19 relief grant funding — but they still have a lot of money left to distribute before a November deadline. On Monday, the EDA launched an extension of the program, which also comes with larger grant awards for local businesses and nonprofits.

The application deadline for the Marshall CARES Grant 2.0 program will be Friday, Sept. 11.

“Our goal is to distribute all the funds we were allocated from the city, and we believe with the extended deadline we will be able to do that,” said Marshall EDA Director Lauren Deutz.

“COVID-19 has created unprecedented hardships for our local businesses,” Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said. “Our goal would be for this grant to help businesses get back on their feet or cover unknown expenses they incurred during this pandemic.”

The city of Marshall received around $1 million in CARES Act funding for COVID-19 relief, and allocated $500,000 of the funding for grants to local businesses affected by the pandemic. The EDA’s original grant program closed Aug. 21, and received 53 applications from businesses and nonprofits. Applicants requested about $237,000 of the $500,000 of available funding.

“We were anticipating more applications in the first round because we know that the need is present in our community. However, we knew we were working with a short time frame,” Deutz said. The state’s deadline to utilize the CARES funds is Nov. 15, Deutz said.

The 2.0 grant program will have similar guidelines as the original program, but Deutz said some requirements have changed to make more businesses eligible to apply. For example, now businesses with up to 50 full-time employees can apply.

Businesses can still apply for the local grants if they’ve received state or federal funding, but they aren’t allowed to use the CARES Grant 2.0 funding for the same expenses covered by programs like the Paycheck Protection Program or Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

For the 2.0 grant program, grants for eligible Marshall small businesses go up to $7,500, and grants for eligible nonprofits go up to $5,000.

Businesses who previously applied for the Marshall CARES Grant don’t need to reapply, and they will be notified of grant awards in September, the EDA said. Current applicants will also receive the increased grant amounts if they are able to demonstrate a financial need for additional funds.

Applications are available on the Marshall city website. Completed applications can be emailed to lauren.deutz@ci.marshall.mn.us, or dropped off at 118 West College Drive.