Section 690.50  Identifying Disproportionately Impacted Areas

a)         The Department will allocate funding within the Program such that no less than 30% will be provided to qualifying businesses located in disproportionately impacted areas. The Department will determine which ZIP Codes constitute disproportionately impacted areas based on available COVID-19 case information and economic data at the time it announces funding opportunities under the Program, and areas may be added or removed from prioritization based on changes in relative COVID-19 rates and economic distress.  

b)         Within each Allotment Tier, the Department will rank each ZIP Code by COVID-19 cases per capita and by each of the poverty-related criteria. ZIP Codes with moderate, high, and very high COVID-19 cases per capita will be considered to be disproportionately impacted areas if they also have moderate to high rates of economic distress, as demonstrated by high rates within at least one of the poverty-related criteria (see Section 690.20 (Disproportionately Impacted Area)).  The Department will include areas with significantly higher rates of COVID-19 cases per capita and lower levels of the poverty-related criteria, as well as areas with significantly higher levels of the poverty-related criteria and lower relative COVID-19 cases per capita.

c)         The Department will reserve funding opportunities for qualifying businesses located in or predominantly serving severely disproportionately impacted areas.