BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Small Business Rebirth Fund has awarded $350,000 in grants to 57 small businesses impacted by last month's flooding.

Within the first week alone, the grant program awarded received more than 600 applicants. Some grant recipients specified that they would use the funding to pay employees who have helped with clean-up and recovery. The majority of recipients specified that they are trying to reopen in their current locations after repairs are made to their facilities and equipment is replaced.

Only a small portion of recipients reported that they had flood insurance coverage. The first round of grants were made to small businesses in Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberia, Lafayette, Livingston and Pointe Coupee Parishes representing industries including, daycare, restaurants/food service, grocery stores, contractors, health care facilities and physicians' offices.

Donations to the Rebirth Fund made the first round of grants possible, according to fund's officials. Those interested in contributing to the Louisiana Small Business Rebirth Fund can visit www.LaBizRebirth.org.

An independent committee reviewed the applications to prioritize grants to affected businesses. Announced last month, the Louisiana Small Business Rebirth Fund was created to provide grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to help small businesses recover.

Eligible small businesses must have been located within one of the 22 parishes included in the federal disaster declaration area, have 50 or fewer employees, and have been in business on Aug. 10, 2016.