Nearly five dozen Butler County businesses received hospitality grants as part of the state's COVID-19 economic recovery project.

Pennsylvania has doled out $2.1 million to 58 county businesses as part of the COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Relief Program, or CHIRP for short, designed to help restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses in their recovery from the pandemic.

Those 58 businesses were part of the nearly 5,900 companies statewide to receive part of the $145 million total distribution. Eligible businesses could receive up to $50,000, with grants awarded in $5,000 increments.

Butler County businesses received an average of $40,000 each from the grant program, with a plurality of companies — 29 — receiving $45,000, the largest grant award disbursed in the county.

“It's a good group of people. They're very fortunate that they were able to get those funds, and hopefully it helps them,” said Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau. “There's a lot more that need help, I can tell you that.”

The recipients were spaced throughout the county, with some located in Cranberry Township in the south, Butler Township in the county's center and Slippery Rock in northern Butler County, among many other locales.

CHIRP is just one of the several state programs designed to aid businesses in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and Butler County businesses have benefited from those other grants. When the state awarded $50 million for hazard pay for frontline workers, for instance, 15 county businesses received more than $1 million in grants.

Cohen said he hopes more opportunities will be available, both for businesses that didn't qualify or believed they didn't qualify for prior grants but still need help, and for those which, despite receiving aid in the past, still need more assistance.

“I would think that, sometimes, if you look at those, there might be a way to get some folks who didn't get any help. Some help would be nice,” Cohen said. “And there's plenty of folks who still need help.”