The breakout of COVID-19 has created a lot of strife, especially for those who own or are employed to a small business. It’s essential to support small businesses to obtain as many resources as possible to prevent doors from closing. Here is a guide for small business to help navigate during this challenging time.
Resources from the U. S. Department of Chambers
Paycheck Protection Program – “The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll.” The loan will eventually be forgiven if employees are on the program for at least 8 weeks and if the money if used for the following; payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities. Those who are eligible for the PPP loan that meets the size standards for the SBA and larger sized business can be eligible depending on their 501 (c) status
Disaster Relief Loan – “On March 27, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act provides economic relief for businesses experiencing a temporary revenue loss due to COVID-19.” To apply for the loan, there is a two-step verification process that includes whether your business falls within the parameters of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program and you must certify that your business is not engaged in certain disqualifying activities.
Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) – “Businesses are eligible for an employee retention tax credit if business operations were fully or partially suspended due to a COVID-19 shut-down order or if gross receipts declined by more than 50% compared to the same quarter in the prior year.” Businesses of all sizes are eligible for the tax credit but your business must fall under this criteria; if your business operations were fully or partially suspended as a result of government-mandated COVID-19 shut-down order, or if your business experiences a decline in gross receipts by more than 50% in a quarter compared to the same quarter in 2019.
External Resources
Facebook’s Business Resource Hub – Facebook is offering grants for small businesses that are experiencing disruptions from the COVID-19 outbreak. The media platform is offering $100M in cash grants and ad spend. To be eligible for the grants, your company must be: be a for-profit company, have between 2 and 50 employees, have been in business for over a year, have experienced challenges from COVID-19, and/or be in or near a location where Facebook operates.
Yelp – On March 20th, Yelp announced they are going to offer $25 million in relief primarily focused on supporting independent local restaurant and nightlife businesses, in the form of waived advertising fees, and free advertising, products and services.
The Small Business Relief Initiative – The GoFundMe sponsored relief initiative aims to help small businesses by covering services that are used to keep businesses up and running. If a small business raises $500 on their GoFundMe and meets eligibility criteria listed below, they may be considered to receive a $500 matching grant. GoFundMe has partnered with Intuit QuickBooks, Yelp, GoDaddy, and Bill.com to help provide financial support.
For Small Businesses in need, feel free to check out our Employee Relief Programs here!
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