COVID -19: help for small business

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COVID -19: help for small business:

grants and loans

Part 1.

Today there is not a single sphere of business that would not be affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine. The total freezing of life as a whole put many business owners in a dead-end, and even more people simply left without work. In order to counter the economic crisis, the United States Government has drafted a series of laws and financial support packages for businesses and has provided enterprises with grant financing opportunities.

In the first part of a large article, we provide a list of grants and US lending programs. But you need to understand that grant programs are in demand and the fund is depleted within a few hours or days. Programs that offer interest-free loans with deferred loan repayments are also in great demand, acting as bridges until federal assistance is available. Perhaps some of these grant and interest-free deferred repayment programs are already closed, but we left them on the list as potential models for new programs.

We recommend that you regularly consult the list after reading the article so as not to miss the opening of a new financial assistance fund.

Grants and Programs:

1. FEDERAL

Congress has adopted several small business assistance programs:

  • SBA Economic Crisis Loan Program: CARES Law has expanded lending options for the existing SBA Economic Injury Loan Program. Under this program, business owners can borrow up to $ 2 million and request an advance of $ 10,000 for a loan (which does not need to be repaid). The interest rate is 3.75 percent for enterprises and 2.75 percent for non-profit organizations.
  • Paycheck Protection Program: Under the Coronavirus Aid, Assistance and Economic Security Act (CARES) of March 27. Under the salary protection program, $ 350 billion was allocated in the form of government loans to help small businesses pay salaries and cover fixed costs. The application process began on April 3 for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs and April 10 for independent contractors and self-employed workers. Check for up-to-date information at https://www.sba.gov/.
  • Retention loan: the program allows you to use repayable tax credit for employers whose work was suspended or whose income fell by more than 50 percent compared to the same period last year. The loan amount is 50 percent of the salary paid during the period from March 13 to December 31, 2020, but not more than 10,000 US dollars.
  • In addition, there are several SBA programs that can be useful for small businesses. Under program 7 (a), loans of up to $ 5 million are granted. US working capital; equipment and other basic business expenses.
  • CARES law includes $ 5 billion for the Community Development Fund, allowing the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to issue special Community Development Block (CDBG-CV) awards to states and communities to develop small business support and community service programs.

The CARES Act also includes a $ 150 billion fund to help survivors of the virus, which is distributed between state and local governments.

2. STATE AND LOCAL

Here we list a list of resources where you can find the information you need, depending on the state.

Alabama: The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and the Community Foundation of West Alabama have created a Small Business Relief Fund.

Alaska: The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) has created a COVID-19 loan guarantee program, Sustaining Alaska’s Future Economy (AK SAFE). 

Arizona:

  • The Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce offered Small Business Success Grants totaling $100,000
  • Growth Partners Arizona (GPAz), a certified Community Development Financial Institution, offers two loan programs for small businesses affected by COVID-19. 
  • Invest Southwest, a nonprofit organization has created the Arizona Local Impact Fund to help businesses affected by COVID-19. 

Arkansas: Arkansas’s Quick Action Closing Fund offers a loan guarantee and a zero-interest loan program.

California launched a $50 million loan guarantee program for small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Los Angeles Small Business Emergency Microloan Program is offering loans to $20,000 to businesses with 100 or fewer employees. 

It is important that in addition to these programs, every major city in California has a ton of different lending programs for small and medium-sized businesses. We will not list them here since you yourself can easily find information on the websites of the local authorities of each city.

Colorado:

  • The Town of Breckenridge has expanded its Small Business Rent Relief Program. The program provides grants of up to $4,000.
  • On May 22, the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce and Broomfield Community Foundation announced that they are launching the Broomfield Small Business Fund, offering grants to eligible small businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Greenline Ventures, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has created the Greenline Emergency Microloan Program to provide loans to minority-, women-, and veteran-owned small businesses in Colorado.

Connecticut:

Florida: The state of Florida has created a small business program, offering quick loans of up to $ 50,000 to cover losses.

Illinois: Illinois has established a small business assistance program under the COVID-19 program, which is an investment loan program. In addition, credit programs exist in almost every city in the state.

In the next article, we will continue to talk about business assistance programs. If you have exciting questions or topics of interest, feel free to email us and we will certainly try to help.

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