Renton thinking outside the box to save small businesses, asking for donations to create new grant

The pandemic has small businesses everywhere hurting, but the city of Renton reported it has been hit particularly hard. Now the mayor and Chamber of Commerce are teaming up with a local entrepreneur to ask for your help to save businesses facing closure.

The effort is a bit unusual. They’re asking for people to donate an hour of their wages, or even make a micro-donation, to fund a new grant that will go to hurting small businesses. The platform they’re using is called Chip-In, which was founded by former MLB player Gerald Smiley.

More than 40 businesses have permanently closed in Renton. The city reported the trouble with Boeing and the ripple effect of layoffs means they’ve been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

“Our community was definitely hit harder than most,” said Diane Dobson, CEO of the Renton Chamber of Commerce.  “It’s devastating,” she said.

The Chamber of Commerce stated empty storefronts were once a rare sight, but they’re now on every block.

Businesses are struggling to survive, but the owner of Sparkle Gifts and Whatnots, Richelle Haas, is undeniably positive.

“There’s no footprint or plan for how to get out of this. You just kind of have to follow the glitter,” Haas said.

But there’s no way to overstate how difficult the past six months have been.  None of the grants she applied for came through.

“It was frustrating, yes. There were definitely some very low moments. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart,” Haas said.

Renton stated it received a $1 million grant from the CARES Act, the government’s coronavirus relief bill, and allocated 183 grants, but there were more than 300 applicants. Now it’s hoping the new effort with Chip-In and nonprofit OneEastside will help create a new grant.

The site is like GoFundMe, except Chip-In does not take a cut.

“Without people, there really is no community. We have a role to play,” said Gerald Smiley, the founder.

In a video, the city is asking people to make a donation to help businesses that may, otherwise, have to close.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the Renton community, and now it’s the time to chip in,” said Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone in the video.

The donations will be used to form a new grant.

“Wow. In this time, when we count on community coming together, this is an actionable item,” said Kristi Slotemaker, owner of River Valley Cheese, which offers cheese-making classes.

The business can’t open until phase 3.

“Since it’s been over six months, the savings are gone,” said Slotemaker.

Two days ago, she had decided to close. The challenges of the pandemic came after a devastating fire burned down her previous location in Issaquah in February 2019.

“Come to the decision to shutter, yeah. It’s hard,” Slotemaker said with tears in her eyes. “But the good news is, as a business owner, just by sheer gumption and just by being resilient, this is who we are as small-business owners. This is what we stand for,” she said.

Now the new potential grant may help save her business.

But she’s also teaming up with Hass of Sparkle Gifts to come up with other ideas. They’ve decided to launch a pop-up store featuring local artists and their wares at the River Valley Cheese space to help cover the cost of the lease and give artists a place to sell their goods before the holiday season.

Meanwhile, they’re just waiting for phase 3.

Donations to “Chip-In” for Renton small businesses are tax-deductible. The goal of the fundraiser is $500,000.

Cox Media Group