ALBANY COUNTY — American Rescue Plan Act funds totaling $950,000 have been awarded to 53 businesses in Albany County.

The recipients, announced on July 3, included local businesses RAD Soap Co. in Guilderland’s Stuyvesant Plaza and New Scotland Physical Therapy in Slingerlands.

The grants of up to $25,000, meant to help the businesses recover from the lingering effects of the pandemic, may be used for support services like technical assistance and counseling or for operating costs like rent, payroll, and utilities.

“Supply chains never fully returned to normal, debt taken on still lingers, and operating costs have risen, while customer patterns have changed,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy in a release announcing the awards. “This funding is about supporting their ongoing recovery and showing that we stand with them as they rebuild and adjust for the future.”

Albany County’s Small Business Grant Program was administered by the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region. Applications were graded on criteria, including the level of financial impact caused by the pandemic; whether a business had already received COVID-related government support; the location of business within an economically disadvantaged neighborhood; and if the business is owned by a veteran, a woman, or a member of a minority.

“We are proud that this public investment in private business joins the county’s new partnership with the Albany Convention Center Authority, the $400 million New York State investment, redevelopment at Saint Rose, and updates to the Central Warehouse,” said Albany County Legislature Chairwoman Joanne Cunningham in the release.

“Thanks, in large part, to over 9,000 small businesses that call Albany County home, April’s 2.7-percent county unemployment rate is the lowest we have seen since the start of the 21st Century,” said the legislature’s deputy chairwoman, Wanda Willingham, in the release. “Small businesses are a huge part of the nearly $4 billion in economic activity we saw last year.”