Leon County is beginning to dole out its $1 million grant program to help local businesses with storm recovery.
County Commissioners on Wednesday recognized local Italian restaurant Bagigio’s, as one of the first recipients of the county's microgrant award program.
“This is a great community," Bagigio's owner Terry Hogan said. "I've had people come out to help remove debris. That's what we do here."
Bagigio’s will receive $5,000 in direct financial assistance through the Targeted Emergency Assistance Microgrants(TEAM) Leon Business Assistance Program.
According to the county, TEAM Leon received more than 1,200 applications within the first 24 hours of opening.
The grant program will distribute up to $1 million from the County's Catastrophe Fund to assist individuals and businesses as the community continues to recover from the May 10 tornadoes.
Hogan said with the amount of money it’ll cost to remove downed trees from the restaurant’s parking lot, anything helps.
"Hopefully we will not have too many more bad storms like this, but if we do, we can rest assured that our county is going to take care of us.”
Commissioners approved the TEAM program, at the urging of County Commissioner Christian Caban, who represents District 2.
"I have seen firsthand the devastation of the tornadoes and also the incredible resilience across our community here in southern Leon County," said Caban.
"The county's TEAM program will stabilize our local economy, and help support small and family businesses like Bagigio's.”
The TEAM Leon grant is now available to residents and businesses in the unincorporated parts of the county.
Applicants with questions may call the TEAM Leon Application Assistance Helpline at 850-606-TEAM (8326). The helpline will be open Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.