Washington County officials deliver $1.9M in hospitality grants

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com

Jim McDonough’s son learned to ride a bicycle inside of the Early Bird diner in Donora as it sat empty during the COVID-19 pandemic.
McDonough, Donora’s mayor, and his wife, Angela, put nearly everything they had into the diner, which opened about eight months before the pandemic hit Washington County in March 2020.
As two-week shut downs were extended time and time again, and tighter restrictions fell into place, the family did not know what their future would hold.
With restaurants forced to shut down, or move to take-out only service, business came to a screeching halt.
“There were days we did not know what to do, what the future would like for our business or for our family,” McDonough said. “With tables empty and business at a standstill, there was one point where my 3-year-old son was learning to ride his bike inside of our diner.”
Thankfully, most COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in Pennsylvania this week.
For the first time in nearly 15 months, businesses, restaurants and bars were permitted to open to customers at full capacity, giving business owners like McDonough hope that better times are ahead.
Some of that hope came in the form of financial relief Wednesday, as more than $1.9 million in grant funding was awarded to 84 restaurants and other businesses in the hospitality industry in Washington County. Restaurants/bars received $25,000 in grant money, while several hotels received $10,000.
During a special event Wednesday at the River House Cafe in Charleroi, Washington County commissioners joined representatives of the Washington Industrial Development Corporation, the Mon Valley Alliance and Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin to announced the release of the first and second rounds of Washington County’s COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Relief Program.
The Washington County CHIRP grant program was authorized by the county commissioners following legislation approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in February to provided approximately $2.3 million in funding to Washington County bars, restaurants and others in the hospitality industry that struggled to keep their doors open throughout the pandemic.
Washington County Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Kotula said the successfulness of the program shows a trait that Washington County knows well: Working together.
“When COVID-19 made its first appearance in Washington County, we responded by informing our citizens on how to stay safe and worked with local businesses on how to stay in business,” he said. “But as we proceeded, we came to the conclusion that we can’t just respond, we have to lead. We did that they way we know best, by working together.”
From providing personal-protective equipment to first responders and hospitals, to ensuring those who wanted a vaccine could receive one, on Wednesday the county turned to one of the hardest hit industries throughout the pandemic to show their support.
Commission Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan and Commissioners Larry Maggi and Nick Sherman partnered with the WIDC and MVA, both Washington County-based economic development organizations, to administer the program through an online website and application process.
In the first two rounds of distribution, 101 applications were received.
As of Wednesday, 84 applications have been approved for funding, with 79% of grants averaging $22,368 each to food service and drinking places, and the remaining 21% of applications given to businesses in the hospitality/accommodations sector.
The commissioners agreed they are proud to have been able to help local businesses within their community push through a difficult time.
“The restaurant and hospitality businesses of Washington County have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, both by the public’s natural inclination to social distance and avoid public places and by government mandated closure and capacity limits,” she said. “One of our goals for the CHIRP program was to help to alleviate some of the losses that have been inflicted on these businesses, through no fault of their own, and I think these award announcements illustrate that we are meeting that goal.”

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Dennis Dutton, board member of Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency, Senator Devlin Robinson, Mike and Lori J. Coury, owners of the River House Cafe in Charleroi, Nick Sherman, Washington County Board of Commissioners and Larry Maggi, Washington County Board of Commissioners.

Ben Brown, CEO of the Mon Valley Alliance spoke about working together with the Washington County Chamber of Commerce to handle the restaurant grant process.
Jenn Codeluppi / MVI