New London ― Since moving to New London from Ecuador 20 years ago, Soila Chacha has worked in restaurant kitchens across the city, including the Wings ‘N’ Pies pizza shop she purchased about a year ago.

In addition to putting in long hours serving customers at the 131 State St. eatery, Chacha stays busy raising four kids with her husband, Edwin Ramos, and attempting to keep her new business afloat.

“It feels like I’m living the American dream,” she said on Monday as three portable air conditioning units worked to keep the restaurant cool even on a December morning. “We’re fighting. We’re working.”

Chacha is hoping a new small business grant program offered by the city will enable her to replace a largely inoperative heating and cooling system inside the 130-year-old building she operates from.

“In the summer, it feels like 150 degrees in here,” she said through a translator during a Monday news conference attended by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, Mayor Michael Passero and city department heads overseeing the new Small Business Improvement Grants Program. “We’ve had customers come in and leave because it gets so hot.”

The grant program, funded with a $190,000 reservoir of American Rescue Plan Act funding, will award up to $10,000 to eligible small businesses to help them defray certain infrastructure improvement costs – like $13,000 for a new cooling system at Wings ‘N’ Pies ― and sustain their operations during off-peak times.

City Grant Coordinator Adriana Reyes said six businesses are in the process of applying for program funding and two have submitted completed applications. She said a portion of the program funding will also be used to add or upgrade signage at some businesses.

“Every downtown business has its slow months and they don’t have the extra money for a new point-of-sale system or a marketing campaign,” Reyes said. “In (Chacha’s) case, she really needs this new cooling system.”

The program, which began accepting applications on Dec. 1, will continue until the pool of funding is exhausted. Applicants applying for more than $3,000 are required to provide three price quotes as part of their submissions.

Courtney on Monday reminded Chacha of certain tax credit programs that might also benefit her upgrade plans and lauded city officials for their targeted deployment of federal pandemic funding.

Passero praised the dedication and work ethic of Chacha and other immigrants who moved to the city and took a chance on opening a new business.

“This was our goal all along with this (ARPA) money,” he said. “We started with larger capital offerings and now we want to get that money directly to the small businesses here.”

Editor’s note: The cost for a new restaurant cooling system for Wings ‘N’ Pies was incorrect in a previous version of this story.

j.penney@theday.com