Small businesses along Bethesda's Purple Line corridor can apply for grants of up to $50,000 to offset revenue losses from years of construction, with applications due Friday, Aug. 28.

The Maryland Department of Transportation's Purple Line Small Business Grant Program is accepting Round 2 applications through the end of the month, as the official @PurpleLineMD account announced on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Awards will be announced Sept. 29, with payments following about 30 days later.

The program, now in its second year, distributed $2 million to nearly 200 small businesses across Montgomery and Prince George's counties in 2025, according to an MDOT press release. It is funded at $1 million per year through 2028 by Purple Line Transit Partners, the private-sector consortium building and operating the rail line.

To qualify, a business must be within a quarter-mile of the Purple Line tracks, have 50 or fewer employees, gross no more than $2 million annually and have been open at its current location before July 1, 2023. Cannabis, tobacco, alcohol-based businesses, pawn shops, gun shops and tattoo parlors are among those excluded.

Grant funds can cover payroll, rent, utilities, supplier payments, equipment and other operating costs. MDOT calls the program highly competitive and urges applicants to document specific financial and operational impacts from construction.

Applications are free.

When MDOT announced a $500,000 round of awards in December 2025, Acting Secretary Samantha J. Biddle said the department was "doing everything we can to expeditiously finish building the Purple Line and support small businesses impacted by its construction."

The 16-mile light rail line connecting New Carrollton to Bethesda has been under construction since 2016 and is expected to finish in late 2027, according to MDOT. This is a separate program from the Purple Line Transit Partners "Beyond the Rails" community grants for nonprofits, which we reported on Aug. 11.

Applications must be submitted through the Maryland OneStop portal. Applicants need proof of good standing with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation and a completed IRS Form W-9. Businesses that applied in a prior round must submit a new application to be considered. Grant payments are considered taxable income.

A third round opens Sept. 29, with a Nov. 7 deadline.