The Olympian – December 27, 2020 Across [Thurston] county, households of all types are getting smaller: 65% of households consist of one or two people (in Olympia it’s closer to 75%) and the average household size has shrunk from 3.1 in 1970 to 2.5 today. Despite these trends, the private market continues to produce larger…

RESOURCES FOR BUSINESSES Through the City of Lacey’s partnership with Thurston Strong, a FREE initial supply of PPE is available to businesses restarting.  Here is a link to that information.  To order PPE, please follow this link. One of the City of Lacey’s economic development community partners, Enterprise for Equity is offering free classes to…

ATTENTION LACEY RESTAURANT OWNERS ATTENTION LACEY RETAIL OWNERS THE CITY OF LACEY WANTS YOU TO BE ABLE TO REOPEN FAST, SAFE, AND PROFITABLE It’s going to be a beautiful summer: Let’s DINE outside! Let’s SHOP Outside! –Are you concerned about being able to safely social distance AND have adequate table turnover and sales volume to…

Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) has a grant opportunity available to all licensed child care providers. PURPOSE The Child Care COVID-19 Grant provides support and stabilization for child care providers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ELIGIBILITY Any licensed child care provider in Washington that is open on the date they…

In this unprecedented time, customers are wary of taking any unnecessary trips outside of their homes. As a result, many businesses are finding their revenue streams dried up, and many business owners worry about the long-term sustainability of their businesses.   Fortunately, there are several cost-free steps that business owners can take to stabilize their…

NEW GRANT FUNDING IS AVAILABLE NOW! The Department of Commerce is offering a new Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant (WWSBEG) to assist small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Small businesses who qualify for the grant program and are located within Thurston County can apply here:  http://startup.choosewashingtonstate.com/covid-grants/ which will link to a Commerce page…

In the rapidly evolving COVID-19 crisis, new Information becomes available nearly every day.  In an effort to cull through the endless data, in order to provide just the information of use to businesses in Lacey, here are two resources: The Guide to the CARES Act for Small Businesses The COVID-19 Tool Kit for Families and…

To assist small, locally owned Lacey-based for-profit businesses, the City of Lacey committed  $1 million to the COVID-19 Lacey Small Business Stabilization Grant Fund, an emergency fund that provided working capital grants in amounts up to $10,000 to qualifying small businesses. Those fund s have now all been awarded or committed.  

COVID-19 Federal Assistance for Small Businesses   In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the “CARES” Act (HR 748) has been signed into law. This legislation provides nearly $2 trillion in assistance, including tax credits and $377 billion for loans and grants to assist small businesses with…

One of the many effective tools of economic development is placemaking: creating an environment that is attractive, welcoming, engaging, and makes people want to gather. Many successful historic downtowns are examples of successful placemaking. Most of Lacey developed well after World War II, and was incorporated as a city in 1966: a time when most…