Local business sign up for COVID relief

IRONWOOD – Ironwood director of community development Tom Bergman, says the application phase of the Michigan Survival grant through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation was ended Friday. Bergman says There were approximately 800 applicants from the Upper Peninsula that have applied for $2.5 million that will be available for the U.P. region and here locally.    The Gogebic County applications will undergo an initial review for completeness by Bergman, Bessemer City Manager Charly Loper, and Wakefield City Manager Robert Brown, before the applications are forwarded to Invest UP! and Western U.P. Planning & Development Region for scoring and ranking.  The application period for the Survival grant for live venues opened Monday and will close in about a week. There is $40,000 in direct payments available for employees of businesses that have been hit by COVID-19 restrictions.