Help Is On The Way
County Small Businesses May Get Relief From Coronavirus Impact
By Raoul Dennis
A major announcement favored small local county businesses facing challenges in the face of the coronavirus spread and the subsequent closures and stay at home orders.
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced a $15 million business fund April 1 that will be aimed at aiding businesses negatively affected by the virus. Applications will be accepted starting April 13.
Other important highlights from the webinar include:
Work-Share program-Rather than layoff employees, keep them on payroll but reduce hours. Lost time could be made up in supplemental unemployment insurance benefits.
Numerous web addresses were shared guiding businesses and unemployed in the right direction to file various applications.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation: Instead of 26 weeks of unemployment, the time will be extended to 39 weeks.
Waiving the need to show evidence of seeking employment
$900,000 relief fund for churches and non-profits
Loans and grants available
Click here for more details.
A day earlier, President and CEO of the Prince George’s Economic Development Corporation David Iannucci announced the need for the launch of the fund.
“It took us five years to add 21,000 jobs to Prince George’s County. It took us 10 days to lose 10,000 jobs [due to business shutdowns as a result of Coronavirus],” said Iannucci.
FSC First is underwriting the deals and has developed a specific portion of their website to businesses hardest hit by the virus. Click here
“Small businesses of 10 employees or less can get grants of $5,000 and those of 10 employees or more can get $10,000,” said Shelly Gross-Wade, CEO of FSC First Corporation.
For more general information, click here.
Packages and amounts will vary from business to business.
