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Fairfax County’s nearly $70 million pandemic grant effort helped hundreds more businesses survive than researchers estimate would have remained open without the assistance.

George Mason University researchers presented that conclusion to county leaders years after COVID-19 brought many ordinary business activities to a halt. Their surveys and analyses found strong evidence that the grants achieved their central goal.

For Michael Bozzelli, whose family has operated Bozzelli’s restaurants since the 1970s, the money arrived at a critical moment. Dine-in and catering revenue at the company’s locations in Virginia and Washington fell to zero during the pandemic’s peak.

Bozzelli and his sister initially used personal savings to avoid missing payroll. Once those funds ran out, they faced difficult decisions about dozens of employees, including some who had worked for the family for 20 years.

The business later learned that Fairfax County was offering grants to help local companies stay afloat. Bozzelli’s two Springfield locations received a combined $18,000 through the county’s PIVOT program.

“It was a lifeline,” Bozzelli said. “It really was a lifeline to help us meet payroll.”

PIVOT provided aid in 2021 to hospitality, retail, arts and food-service businesses. The county’s earlier RISE program distributed grants in 2020 for expenses such as employee wages, health insurance and rent.

Both programs were financed with federal pandemic relief. Together, they distributed almost $70 million among 5,482 Fairfax County businesses.

Researchers surveyed a portion of those recipients. Among 721 respondents, 94% remained in business and 96% said the funding helped their companies survive. Rent, payroll and protective equipment were the most common uses for the money.

The researchers also compared actual business survival with the number expected under normal conditions. Terry Clower, director of George Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis, said roughly 3,100 grant recipients would ordinarily have been expected to remain open. More than 3,300 were still operating.

“The best evidence that we have, based on surveys and analyses, is yes, it did,” Clower said of whether the programs helped businesses endure the pandemic.

The grants were not large enough to cover all operating costs, he said, but they gave businesses support while navigating a sudden downturn. The steepest decline came during the second quarter of 2020, after which companies began adapting.

“This kind of program specifically helped with that kind of event — sharp downturn,” Clower said.

Researchers also calculated that spending tied to the grants generated $95.5 million in economic activity within Fairfax County.

Bozzelli expressed gratitude for the public assistance and the county’s support of restaurants during the crisis.

“Just very grateful,” he said. “Very grateful for the taxpayer and for Fairfax County, for being there for restaurants.”