The province’s grant program for small and medium businesses just doesn’t cut it according to the head of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association.

Executive Director Carl DeSantis says the grants, worth up to $30,000, just aren’t enough for most businesses in need. “You own a business and if it was an easy process and really out there to genuinely support our business community, do you not think more businesses would look for that hand up? Absolutely they would. It the process that just been handcuffing the applications and for seemingly small numbers.”

“Thirty. Thousand. Dollars. You know what? In good times that’s a really good chunk of money but right now it’s not going to get them very far.”

The Horgan Government is kicking in an additional $15,000 for businesses in the tourist sector but DeSantis says that still isn’t enough for the businesses most in need. “I don’t want to sound like I’m dissing the government totally here but it is a drop in the bucket.”

“When you look at the negative impact on the economic situation, just on the tourism side, and I’m not the spokesperson for tourism but we’ve got some hotels downtown that I deal with a lot and I can see first hand the low numbers that they’ve got.”

Desantis says the hotel industry alone is seeing unprecedented hardship and it’s up to the province to see they don’t all go under. “I can see the inactivity in their restaurants, and I know, through my discussions, that there’s a whole lot of hurt. We cannot allow these businesses to fail and it’s not because they’re throwing up their hands and giving up, there’s just simply no revenue coming in. They need support.”

The Province has made the application process simpler by easing qualification requirements but only $12 million out of the $300 million available has been given out.