Indiana is widening eligibility for small-business pandemic relief, to avoid leaving federal grant money unspent.

Indiana received 85-million dollars for business “restart grants” from last year’s CARES Act.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has approved 55-million dollars for nearly three-thousand businesses.

The IEDC is loosening the rules for the grants to deliver as much help as possible before the money expires.

It’s doubling the maximum amount a business can receive to $100,000 dollars.

The average grant has been less than half the $50,000 dollar cap, but vice president Mark Wasky says some businesses have maxed out, and some of them are still experiencing losses from the pandemic’s repercussions.