The City of Geneva is offering a new grant to help its local small businesses survive COVID-19.

"A lot of people are out of work. A lot of shops are closed," said Jim Greco, who owns Lake City Hobby in downtown Geneva.

He's been in business for more than 40 years and he's had to adapt just to stay open.

"We offer delivery services. We offer curbside pickup, and sometimes we let in one customer at a time, so it's definitely not a normal situation," Greco explained.

The New York State Homes and Community Renewal has allowed Geneva to use a portion of its Microenterprise Assistance Program that jump-starts new business to offer a Small Business Disaster grant.

"The funds are up to $10,000 and they could cover things such as rent inventory to get back up and running and being able pay for some of those monthly expenses, utilities is another example to really get them back on their feet," said Geneva City Manager Sage Gerling.

Greco intends to apply.

"It's fantastic and that shows why Geneva has turned around in the last 10-15 years and looked more towards filling up the downtown, which is needed, especially today in this day and age." said Greco.

Gerling believes these establishments make up the fabric of Geneva's uniquely urban community.

"We just want everyone to be more resilient when we come out of this and we want to play a role in helping businesses become stronger,” said Gerling.

Businesses have until May 19 to apply for the Small Business Disaster Grant and the Microenterprise Assistance Program.

For more information, click here.