Zack Pike, owner of Pike Project Development, stands between shattered windows in the basement of the former Maine Spinning Mill building in Skowhegan on Dec. 20, 2023. The basement was flooded with 5 feet of water when the Kennebec River overflowed during the Dec. 18-19 storm. The spinning mill project received a $100,000 grant from the state for repairs. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

The state is providing $5.8 million to 109 small businesses in Maine to help them recover from severe winter storms, Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday.

The grants, which range from about $2,000 to $100,000, are being awarded by the state Department of Economic and Community Development to businesses in various sectors affected by the storms in December and January.

The money is part of a $60 million storm relief package approved by Mills and the Legislature in May, which included $21.2 million allocated last month to rebuild or repair 68 working waterfronts.

The $5.8 million for small businesses is the first round of money awarded from the $10 million Business Recovery and Resilience Fund. The state plans to issue a second round of grants with the remaining funding over the next few months.

The money will be given to businesses and organizations in all 16 Maine counties for design, permitting and construction costs of projects aimed at both repairing damage caused by winter storms last year and preventing future storms.

The state said these grants are conditional, following a review of the companies’ eligible project proposals. Eligible projects include upgrading infrastructure and drainage systems, moving electrical or business equipment or the business itself to a safer location and investing in insurance.

This story is being updated.

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