The state has brought back a popular grant program for businesses affected by flooding.
The Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program, or BEGAP, granted $19.4 million to Vermont businesses and nonprofits last year to repair physical damage to their property. The new, revamped version of BEGAP has $7 million for businesses damaged by the 2024 floods as well as $5 million for businesses with remaining damage from last year’s flooding.
All Vermont businesses with proof of property damage costs not covered by insurance were and are eligible for grants under BEGAP. (Community service nonprofits who received a public assistance grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are ineligible.)
After a revision, BEGAP in 2023 provided for 30% of net uncovered damage, with a maximum payout of $500,000 in damage for each property affected by flooding. The agency defines net uncovered damage as the remaining need after subtracting insurance proceeds and other grants or donations.
This time around, the state Agency for Commerce and Community Development’s Department of Economic Development, which runs the program, is setting the limit at 30% up to $100,000 of uncovered damage. Unlike last time, 40% of funds will be reserved for agricultural and silvicultural businesses until Nov. 15, and a portion of the two funds will be reserved for Black-, Indigenous- and people-of-color-owned businesses.
The full criteria, as well as the application form, can be found on ACCD’s website.
Among the businesses decimated by last year’s flooding was Simon Pearce, a glass and pottery company. Floodwaters infiltrating the company’s flagship location in Quechee, which includes a restaurant, store, and glassblowing facility, and caused over $2 million in damage, CEO Jay Benson said.
The glassblowing facility, one of two kitchens, the hydroelectric turbine that powers the building, and the dam the turbine lives in were all damaged by floodwaters. To make matters worse, the Quechee covered bridge was also damaged — making it hard for customers to reach the facility even once the restaurant reopened, Benson said.
The company wasn’t eligible for FEMA aid, and did not apply for Small Business Administration loans. It also didn’t have flood insurance, which wasn’t helpful the last time the facility suffered catastrophic flooding, in 2011, Benson said.
The company ultimately received $422,800 from BEGAP, the fourth-highest amount of all businesses in the state. Benson said they spent the funds on cleanup, replacing kitchen equipment and electrical equipment for glass blowing, and new flood prevention measures.
“We put flood doors on some of the lowest access points in the space,” Benson said. “Given that we’ve now had two hundred-year floods in the last 15 years, we decided it was appropriate to spend some of it to prevent future water penetration.”
Thankfully, Benson said, the facility was not harmed in this year’s flooding.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Forward Always Farmstead, a small farm in Waterbury that received $147.45, the lowest amount of any BEGAP grant.
Laura Hardie and her husband primarily grow lavender plants, annual cut flowers and Christmas trees. The Hardies planted their first crop of about 300 lavender plants and 200 Christmas trees in the spring of 2023, only to lose a third of the lavender and half of the trees to flooding that July.
“We had moved [to Waterbury] after Irene so we knew it was a possibility, though we had hoped it would be another 100 years before that happened.” Hardie said, noting the farm is situated on a hundred-year floodplain. “Unfortunately, that field has now flooded three times in the past year.”
Combined with around $500 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency and their own money, the Hardies were able to replant, only to see their land inundated again in December 2023 and this past July.
Hardie said Forward Always Farmstead is not her family’s primary source of income — she and her husband have unrelated jobs off the property — but that it’s a labor of love for her and her family, and she’s grateful for the assistance BEGAP provided.
“Even though it’s not a significant amount of money, when you’re doing this as something that you enjoy and that you love, and that really brings something to your family and the community, it’s helpful to have something keep you going when it’s just a small operation,” said Laura Hardie. “And you know, if it's not sustainable, we're not going to keep doing it. And so having a little bit of support to help us get it going again is really helpful.”
Hardie said she appreciated BEGAP’s straightforward application process, especially compared to other agencies like the USDA.
“They will make you jump up and down, do jumping jacks, stand on your head, spin around 10 times and then run a mile before you can get your funding, and by the time you’re done, you’re so worn out that you wonder why you did it,” Hardie said.
BEGAP, on the other hand, is just a form with some document uploads. If the process were more arduous, Hardie said, she would not have applied for such a small amount of money. As it stands, she said she’ll probably apply to cover damage sustained in this year’s July flood, with an eye on being more resilient to future floods.
The program is a bit more complicated this year, as it covers three main sets of businesses: those damaged in just the 2023 floods, like Simon Pearce; those damaged in just the 2024 floods; and those damaged in both, like Forward Always Farmstead. The application should take 30-45 minutes if applicants have all of the required documents ready, Department of Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein said. And for businesses with an edge case, Goldstein still recommends applying.
“If something’s not clear, [you] should just explain it in the spots that allow for that. If we don’t have enough space, just upload a document with your story because we realize we’re not going to capture every single permutation,” Goldstein said.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message. Or contact the reporter directly at corey.dockser@vermontpublic.org.
