The Hays County Emergency Cash Assistance Program, a collaboration between Hays County, City of Kyle, PeopleFund and the Greater San Marcos Partnership, recently awarded $600,000 in free grants to 92 small businesses across the county. Pictured above, GSMP Marketing and Communications Manager J.D. Moore; GSMP Director of Workforce Retention and Expansion Barbara Thomason; Splash Coworking Founder and CEO Carina Boston Pinales; and Wimberley Players Executive Manager Simone Corprew. Pinales and Corprew's respective businesses each received grant funding through ECAP.
‘Tremendously gratifying': Hays County small businesses aided with $600K in grant funding
The Wimberley Players has been providing live theater to Central Texans for 40 years. But 2020 disrupted its entire production season.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Wimberley Players to adapt, moving to streaming its productions. But like many in the arts, it suffered too.
“We are a live theater company so our whole business basically thrives on putting a lot of people in one room, which is not pandemic friendly,” Wimberley Players Executive Manager Simone Corprew said. “It's been a huge, huge hit for us. Obviously, theater is kind of an industry that has really suffered. And, unfortunately, the arts are exactly what we need right now at a time when so many people are suffering.”
The Wimberley Players, however, is among 92 small businesses throughout Hays County that have received grant funding from the Hays County Emergency Cash Assistance Program. In late August, the Hays County Commissioners Court initiated the ECAP fund, which is a collaboration between the county, City of Kyle, PeopleFund and the Greater San Marcos Partnership.
ECAP has awarded $600,000 in free grants to businesses that demonstrated need specifically from COVID-19’s impact. Businesses were granted between $1,000-$10,000 in funding with the average receiving $6,520. According to the GSMP, 37 of the 92 businesses that were assisted are located in San Marcos; 18 in Buda; 16 from Dripping Springs/Driftwood; 14 located in Kyle; and seven in Wimberley.
“For us though, it was tremendously gratifying to be able to facilitate this process,” said Barbara Thomason, GMSP Director of Workforce Retention and Expansion. “You can imagine. How fun is it to give away money to businesses that need it.”
Corprew said the ECAP funding has helped keep the Wimberley Players' full-time staff employed, and with its streaming abilities.
“We had to invest a lot of time, money into streaming,” Corprew said. “Our streaming equipment, we've gotten a really good set up so that we're still giving our customers the high-quality experience that they're used to with us. So, a part of the grant has gone to that. Then, (the grant) just allows us to get started on this season of shows and get some good entertainment out to the community.”
Alongside the Wimberley Players, Splash Coworking also received funding through ECAP. Splash Coworking, which provides space and resources to local businesses and entrepreneurs, has been able to use the funding to provide a safe environment in its office located at 326 N. LBJ Dr. in San Marcos.
“(The funding) gave us some reassurance that there was something that was looking out for small businesses,” Splash Coworking Founder and CEO Carina Boston Pinales said. “It also provided us a way of planning ahead because we knew we were able to receive something that can give us a little bit more runway for some of the essentials that we needed because of the impact of the pandemic.
“I know we spent a deal on changing out our filters and our light bulbs,” Pinales added. “So that gave us relief that we didn't have that much more cost that we were gonna have to incur just to be able to adapt to our needs in our space.”
Pinales said several of Splash’s revenue streams were impacted by the pandemic between its public events and educational resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“Having to pivot and make sure access to those resources weren't stagnant because of the pandemic was something that was a huge challenge that we’re still working on and rolling out adaptive resources for our entrepreneurs and startups,” Pinales said.
Among the nearly 100 businesses selected to receive funding, Thomason said Splash and the Wimberley Players are two that drive the economies in their respective locations.
“(Splash) houses multiple businesses, so to be able to support (Pinales) has a multiplier effect on business in the downtown area,” Thomason said. “So, to give her $5,000 multiples into economic benefit for this community. The same for Wimberley Players. The arts — people don’t understand how the arts are such a tremendous economic driver in any community because someone who goes to a theater gets gas, goes to a restaurant, tells their friends about their positive experience. It’s an attraction destination for people outside of the region. In so many ways, the arts are something to be developed and nurtured in any community.”
Funding through ECAP went to small businesses in the food, hospitality, retail, and health and beauty industries. Pinales said that the fabric of a community and the identity is established within its small businesses.
“In any sense there is that multiplier effect because that small business owner is more likely to employ a family, or a family member that is local and is embedded into the community,” she said. “So there is that ripple when any dollar is kept in the local currency. And then, on top of that, it’s supplemented and supported, then you know it’s going straight back into the community.”
