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Most of what comes up when you search for Salt Lake grants is a 2020 county program or a 2023 city program that has already spent its money. We checked each program's official page on October 28, 2026, and list only what we could confirm, with its status on that date.
As of October 28, 2026, two grants are open to Salt Lake businesses: Visit Salt Lake's Visitor Experience Development Grant (up to $10,000, applications close November 25) and Salt Lake City's Construction Mitigation Grant ($500 to $3,000, accepted year-round for shops hurt by city construction). Utah's Economic Assistance Grant, up to $200,000, closed September 30, 2026. Salt Lake County has no general small business grant right now, and the SBA does not give grants to start or grow a business.
We read each program's own page on October 28, 2026. Grant pages change without notice, so open the official link in the sources list before you start an application.
| Program | Who runs it | Amount | Status on Oct. 28, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor Experience Development Grant | Visit Salt Lake | Up to $10,000 ($50,000 total) | Open until Nov. 25, 11:59 p.m. MT |
| Construction Mitigation Grant | Salt Lake City Economic Development | $500 to $3,000 | Accepted year-round, while funding lasts |
| Economic Assistance Grant | Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity | Up to $200,000 | Closed Sept. 30, 2026; next round not posted |
| Cooperative Marketing Grant | Utah Office of Tourism | 1:1 cash match | Closed June 10, 2026; next round announced March 2027 |
| Economic Development Loan Fund (a loan) | Salt Lake City Economic Development | Up to $100,000 or $350,000 | Interest form closed; reopens February 2027 |
| Utah Small Business Credit Initiative (loans) | State of Utah, through local lenders | Loans from $10,000 | Active through 2030 |
This is the one sizable grant open to Salt Lake County businesses right now. Visit Salt Lake, the county's tourism bureau, is giving out $50,000 in total, up to $10,000 per business, to build or improve something a visitor can book: a guided bike tour of the Avenues, a food tour in Sugar House, a fly fishing trip up Big Cottonwood. Applications close November 25 at 11:59 p.m. MT, and winners are announced December 17. The committee can award less than you ask for.
To qualify, the business has to be in Salt Lake County or operate mainly there, and it has to be legally formed before the money is paid out. You need a basic business plan that covers pricing, who the customer is and how you will sell it. The experience has to be live and bookable, with the grant money spent, by June 30, 2027. Membership in Visit Salt Lake is not listed as a requirement.
The money can pay for equipment and materials, staff training or certifications, photos and video for launch marketing, booking platform fees, your business license and permits, and insurance. It cannot pay rent, utilities, existing payroll, debt, vehicles, or a grant writer to fill out the form.
If a city construction project has torn up the street in front of your shop, Salt Lake City will pay you $500 to $3,000. The city accepts applications year-round, but its page says grants depend on need and on available funding.
You qualify if you run an independent retail store, restaurant or bar (or a nonprofit) with fewer than 50 employees, from a storefront inside city limits, with a current Salt Lake City business license. The construction has to be a Salt Lake City public project, and your door has to be on the work site or within half a block of it. On October 28, 2026, the only active area the city listed was the S-Line Extension in Sugar House.
Bring a W-9 and two profit and loss statements: one from the month before construction started and one from the current month. The city says approval emails go out within 7 to 10 business days and the check takes another 3 to 4 weeks. Questions go to the Department of Economic Development at 801-535-7200. If you do not have a city license yet, our Salt Lake City page covers the city itself.
The biggest state grant a Salt Lake business can apply for is the Economic Assistance Grant from the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity. The Legislature put $4.5 million into it, and it pays one-time, project-based awards of up to $200,000. The 2026 window ran from September 15 to September 30 at 5 p.m. MDT, so it is closed. The state has not posted a 2027 date.
Both for-profit businesses and nonprofits can apply. Your principal place of business has to be in Utah, you have to be in good standing with the Utah Division of Corporations, and the project has to tie to industry, education, community development or infrastructure. Government entities cannot apply. Salt Lake City's own business page describes these state grants as money the Legislature allocates now and then, so check the state grants page each summer.
Two other state programs come up in searches and do not fit most Salt Lake businesses. The Utah Office of Tourism's Cooperative Marketing Grant is for destinations, nonprofit attractions, events and cities, needs a dollar-for-dollar cash match, closed June 10, 2026, and opens again in March 2027. The Rural Employment Development Incentive has a November 1 to 15 window, but only for jobs created in rural Utah.
Salt Lake County does not run a general small business grant right now. Its Economic Development page lists two things: a low-interest Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund for cleaning up contaminated property, and tax increment financing for development projects. Neither one pays for a new oven or a sign.
The county program you will see in search results, the Small Business Impact Grant of up to $35,000, was 2020 pandemic relief paid from federal coronavirus money. It is closed. The same goes for Salt Lake City's Community Grants Program, which used federal American Rescue Plan money and paid its final round in December 2023.
This is a loan, not a grant, but it is the city's main pot of money for small businesses. Businesses under three years old can borrow up to $100,000 and older businesses up to $350,000, with microloans of $25,000 or less. Terms run from 6 months to 7 years. The city's page puts the average rate at the prime rate plus 4%, with a floor at prime and a ceiling at prime plus 8%, and offers lower rates for businesses in priority neighborhoods, owners with low to moderate income, veteran or disabled owners and e2 certified green businesses. The application fee is $120, and the business has to be inside Salt Lake City limits.
As of October 28, 2026, the interest form, which is the required first step, is closed. The city says to check back in February 2027. Have your business plan, financial statements, proof of collateral value and formation documents ready before it reopens.
The Utah Small Business Credit Initiative is open and runs through 2030. You do not apply to the state. You apply to one of its partner lenders, such as Altabank, Bank of Utah, MoFi, the Suazo Business Center or the Utah Microloan Fund, and the lender decides. Under its Loan Participation Program, businesses with fewer than 750 employees can get loans from $10,000 to $20 million, with the state buying up to 40% of the loan at a rate of 0.5% to 3%, which pulls your blended rate down. Its Capital Access Program helps lenders say yes on loans from $25,000 to $5 million when you have little collateral. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees can also get low-cost legal and accounting help through it.
The Utah Microloan Fund, based on Ford Avenue in Salt Lake City, lends to owners who cannot get a bank loan because of credit, collateral or a short track record, including startups without two years of financials. It starts every borrower with a loan orientation.
The SBA's grants page says it directly: it does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business. Its grant money goes to research and development companies through the SBIR and STTR programs, to state export programs and to the counseling centers it funds. If you are building new technology, the SBIR program is the federal route. For a restaurant, a salon or a contractor, the SBA's help comes as loan guarantees and free counseling, not a check.
Grant roundup sites keep listing programs years after the money runs out. Before you spend an evening on an application, find the program on the website of the agency that runs it: slc.gov, saltlakecounty.gov, business.utah.gov, sba.gov, or the nonprofit's own site. Look for a close date with a year on it. If the only place you can find the grant is a list or a news story from 2020, it is gone.
Read the ineligible costs before you write anything. Most grants exclude rent, payroll and debt, which are usually the bills an owner wants covered.
Most Salt Lake small businesses will not find a grant that matches what they need this month, and the real decision is how to spend their own first $500 on getting customers. Our guide to where to advertise in Salt Lake City lists each option with its published price.
We publish The Salt Lake Valley, a free newsletter for Salt Lake County with 2,439 subscribers on October 28, 2026, and we sell ads in it, so weigh this with that in mind. Ad plans start at $149 a month, and a Local Directory listing is $49 a month. If you want to write grant applications and business plans faster, our free AI 101 class shows the tools.