COVID-19 RESOURCES

NRF’s Resources by State: https://nrf.com/resources/retail-safety-and-security-tools/coronavirus-resources-retailers/state-resources

Arkansas
The State Chamber of Commerce has created a list of resources and regularly-updated information for business owners in the state.

California
Employers facing potential closures or layoffs can request America’s Job Center of California Rapid Response Services for help in evaluating your business and employee situation.

New York 

Please be aware, in the state of NY, you can apply for NY grants & loans listed below in addition to the grants and loans offered as part of the federal stimulus package outlined in the next section. 

• The NYC Small Business Services is offering grants, zero-interest loans and other relief options to NYC businesses in specific categories of size and revenue impact. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees who have seen sales decrease by 25% or more will be eligible for zero-interest loans of up to $75,000 to help mitigate losses. The city is also offering small businesses with fewer than 5 employees a grant to cover 40% of payroll costs for two months to help retain employees. https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/article/nyc-employee-retention-grant-program
• NYC Small Business Continuity Loan Fund: Businesses with 0-99 employees who have seen sales decreases of 25% or more will be eligible to apply for loans of up to $75,000 to help ensure business continuity. Learn more: nyc.gov/covid19biz
• If you are female owned business in the state of NY, WE NYC is offering one on one business consultations on the impact of COVID-19 and can also answer any questions you have about the federal stimulus loans and grant offerings. Book a session here: Bit.ly/covidconsultation or email wenyc@sbs.nyc.gov

Pennsylvania 
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development has put together a COVID-19 Business Resource guide that appears to be updated almost daily. There’s a list of contacts and resources that are available to assist affected businesses.

San Francisco 
The city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development has a comprehensive list of resources and updated information for business owners in the bay area. The city is rapidly instituting programs to help business owners. Follow @sfoewd on Twitter to keep up to date with the latest information.

Washington
The SeattleMet has an excellent list of resources for small business owners and employees in the metro area. Grants of up to $10,000 are available for businesses that make 80 percent (or less) of the area’s media income and have five or fewer employees. The business and occupation tax deadline has been extended, and there are deferred payment plans for utilities. There are plenty of other programs currently available in and around what is (at this point) the hardest-hit city in the U.S. Washington State is also offering no-interest loans for businesses that encounter cash flow problems. https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/special-covid-19-message-washington-state-businesses-and-workers-governor-jay-inslee

Chicago
Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed a $100 million Chicago Small Business Resiliency Loan Fund that will provide low-interest loans to the city’s struggling small businesses.

Denver
The city’s business owners can apply for cash grants of up to $7,500 as part of Denver Economic Development and Opportunity’s emergency relief program. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock also announced the creation of a $4 million small business relief fund.

Maine
Led by Governor Janet Mills, Maine is one of the first states to be approved for SBA loans. The state will allocate up to $2 million in aid for small businesses.

Massachusetts
Governor Charlie Baker announced a $10 million relief fund for Massachusetts businesses affected by the coronavirus. Funds of up to $75,000 are immediately available for companies with fewer than 50 full- and part-time employees.

Michigan: The Michigan Economic Development Corp. received approval to implement a Michigan Small Business Relief Program that will allocate $10 million in small business grants and $10 million in small business loans to local business owners.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. launched Small Business 20/20—a $5 million grant program that will give companies with fewer than 20 employees up to $20,000.

For support outside of the US, we found this website that shares the latest information of country specific government bailouts https://qz.com/1819776/here-are-the-coronavirus-bailouts-being-prepared-around-the-world/

• For businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees, all employee wages qualify for the Employee retention tax credit, whether the employer is open for business or subject to a shut-down order. The credit is provided for the first $10K of compensation, including health benefits, paid to an eligible employee.
• If your business (greater than 100 employees) was forced to close partially or fully due to coronavirus, you can also apply for the Employee retention tax credit which will pay 50% of wages to employees and up to $10K in compensation.

The fine print to the Employee retention tax credit:

• The tax credit will apply to all wages paid after March 12, 2020 and continue until December 31st, 2020.
• Eligibility for the loan will run through December 31, 2020.

Paycheck Protection Program:

• In addition, the bill guarantees every business a forgivable Paycheck Protection Program of up to $10 million to be used to cover payroll, salaries, mortgage or rent payments, utility payments, and pre-existing debt obligations to sustain a business of up to 2.5 months. Payroll to individuals within the business cannot exceed $100K/year.The loan forgiveness is only for up to 8 weeks of coverage.
• Portions of the loan can also be used to back pay employees or cover existing debt obligations from February 15, 2020.

The fine print to the Paycheck Protection Loan:

• The loan application itself is also now available here and may be submitted starting Friday, April 3rd. Completed applications should be sent to your bank. We recommend you verify the terms and conditions with your bank.
• Your business must have been operational as on 2/15/2020 to apply.
• Loans will only be issued to businesses who keep 90% of their employees through September 30th, 2020 (forgiveness is scaled down as layoffs rise). In order to be eligible for the loan, your business must maintain an average monthly number of employees during the covered period that is no less than the number it had before the crisis began.
• Eligibility for the loan will run through December 31, 2020.
• Loans are made by lenders certified by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and guaranteed by the federal government. The SBA will administer the PPP.
• Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals are also eligible for this loan.
• Note that under the CARES Act, “payroll costs” include vacation, parental, family, medical, and sick leave; allowances for dismissal or separation; payments for group health care benefits, including insurance premiums; and retirement benefits.
• The Treasury Dept issued further information and guidance on the loan programs available to small businesses under the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program. Download the fact sheet here.

Debt Relief for Existing and New SBA Borrowers:

Provide debt relief to small businesses with standard SBA 7(a), 504, or microloans. SBA will cover principal and interest payments for six months.

The fine print to the CARES ACT Debt Relief:

• Existing loans prior to CARES act
• New loan within six months from signing CARES act
• May still apply for Paycheck Protection Program ( PPP)
• Debt relief cannot be applied to a PPP loan

Small businesses also qualify for the Emergency Economic Injury Loan & Grant ( EIDL):

• The stimulus a provision to provide an advance of $10,000 to small businesses that apply for an SBA economic injury disaster loan.
• This loan offers up to $2 million at 3.75% interest rate.

The fine print to the EIDL:

• Must have been in operation on January 31, 2020
• Advances of $10,000 to small businesses that apply for an SBA EIDL
• EIDL grant does not need to be repaid even if the grantee is denied an EIDL
• No loan forgiveness feature
• EIDLs can be refinanced into PPPs (PPP’s forgive portion reduced by grant)
• Up to 30-year repayment period
• Application process: Through SBA, Available now through December 2020

What you need to know if you are a Mid-sized business (500-10K employees):

Tax payment delay:

• Mid-sized businesses are also granted the option to delay the employer portion of an employee’s tax payment.

The Employee retention tax credit:

• Under the Employee retention tax credit every business is 100% guaranteed support in the form of tax credits.
• If your business was forced to close partially or fully due to coronavirus, the Employee retention tax credit will refund your business 50% of wages in a calendar quarter.
• If because of coronavirus your business saw a 50% drop in revenue compared to this time last year, you will also qualify for a tax credit of up to $10K per employee.
• The deductible expense limit will increase from 30% to 50% for taxable income for 2019 and 2020.

The fine print to the Employee retention tax credit:

• The tax credit will apply to all wages paid after March 12, 2020 and continue until December 31st, 2020.
• Eligibility for the loan will run through December 31, 2020.

If you have a retail store regardless of the size of your company:

• If you have a storefront, the bill will protect you against evictions due to lack of rent payment.
• The bill will also protect your retail store from any fees or penalties as a result of delayed payments on your rent.

What this bill also means for your employees/contractors/part-time workers:

• If this loan wasn’t enough for you to keep your employees, the stimulus package does allow your former employees to receive benefits faster (without the 7-day waiting period). The bill also provides additional financial support above regular unemployment benefits. The exact amount,  however, varies by state and will stay continue for up to four months.
• If the employees’ adjusted gross income in 2019 (or 2018 if taxes were not filed in 2019) was less than $75K for single filers and $150K for joint filers, then a check for $1,200 will be issued within the next 3 weeks to taxpayers via direct deposit when possible. If not possible, checks will be mailed, but that is likely to take longer. Caveat: For every $100 your employee earned above $75K, the payment drops by $5. Those with an income above $99K would not qualify to receive a stimulus check payment. Also, those with children are eligible for additional funds.
• On March 18th, 2020 a separate $100 billion dollars bill was also passed to provide limited emergency paid sick and family leave for qualifying employees.

 
Sources:
CNN Staff, “What’s in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill”, CNN, March 26, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/stimulus-package-details-coronavirus/index.html
Tankersley, Jim, “A $2 Trillion Lifeline Will Help, but More May Be Needed”, NYT, March 25, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/business/2-trillion-stimulus-coronavirus-bill.html
Aratani, Lauren, “$1,200 stimulus checks for all? What to know about the US coronavirus bailout”, The Guardian, March 25, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/coronavirus-us-bailout-what-you-need-to-know
Winston & Straw LLP, “Senate Passes SBA Paycheck Protection Loan Program”, Winston & Straw LLP, March 26, 2020, https://www.winston.com/en/thought-leadership/covid-19-senate-passes-sba-paycheck-protection-loan-program.html
Cohn, Michael, “Senate approves $2.2T coronavirus rescue package with tax breaks”, Accounting Today, March 26, 2020, https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/senate-approves-2-2t-coronavirus-rescue-package-with-tax-breaks
DUBROW, DAVID L., Krainin, Richard, McLaughlin Jeannette Carneiro, Goldberg, Justin A., “Summarizing the Paycheck Protection Program”, Arent Fox, March 27, 2020, https://arentfox.com/perspectives/alerts/summarizing-the-paycheck-protection-program
CREDIT SUISSE GROUP, “Washington Alert: Bipartisan Agreement Reached on $2 Trillion Stimulus Bill”, CREDIT SUISSE, March 25, 2020
https://eig.org/news/understanding-the-paycheck-protection-program

Small Business Association (SBA) is offering low interest “Disaster Loans” to small businesses for up to $2 Million to help cover operating expenses like payroll, costs, debt, etc. For more info visit: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance. You can find a regularly updated list of states where disaster assistance is being offered here.

SBA provides a number of loan resources for small businesses to utilize when operating their business.  How to get access to lending partners?  SBA has developed Lender Match, a free online referral tool that connects small businesses with participating SBA-approved lenders within 48 hours. For more information on loans or how to connect with a lender, visit: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans.
Lending Valley provides a variety of funding products to small and mid-sized businesses including retailers who needs some working capital to get through the next few months. For more info, visit: http://www.lendingvalley.com

Kabbage, Inc. has launched www.helpsmallbusiness.com, as part of a call-to-action initiative across the U.S., enabling anyone to purchase an online gift certificate from participating small businesses to provide them with crucial financial support. Sign up your store to participate here and gain access to Kabbage’s technology to scan, verify, track and fulfill gift certificates when redeemed.

India
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry urges you to contact the Assistant Secretary General, Shobha Mishra Ghosh for assistance

France
To learn the latest of what your government is providing your business, they urge you to check the twitter account @ccifrance or visit their website.

United Kingdom
In the UK, your business can get advice and financial help from government with backed grants and loans. Details can be found here. Federation of Small Businesses in the UK has also set up a Coronavirus hub.

Wales
Wales announced taking measures to support small businesses with £330bn in loans and £20bn in other aid.

Take advantage of Facebook Resource Hub –a guide on what you can do now to stay connected to customers and a special page dedicated to minimizing business disruption during emergencies.

Google

Google Commits $800 Million In coronavirus aid for Small Business Support. Read the story here

Microsoft Teams freemium
Enjoy unlimited chat, built-in group and one-on-one audio or video calling, 10 GB of team file storage and 2 GB of personal file storage per user. You also get real-time collaboration with the Office apps for web, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

PandaDoc
The document automation software for small and medium-sized businesses has launched a free e-signature plan to help businesses keep running while they switch to remote working. Free eSign is offering unlimited document uploads to collect eSignatures and payment processing.

Zoom Basic Plan
Host up to 100 participants in a meeting and hold unlimited one-on-one meetings with the video-conference provider’s complimentary plan. This does provide a 40-minute limit on group meetings, though you’re not limited to the number of meetings.

Amazon
Amazon announced a $5 million Neighborhood Small Business Relief Fund to provide cash grants to local Seattle small businesses.

JPMorgan pledged $50 million in aid to small businesses and nonprofits.

MainVest
MainVest, a crowdfunding platform, announced its new Main Street Initiative: a $2,000, zero-interest, 120 day loan for restaurants or other brick and mortars affected by the shutdown, in addition to its normal fundraising offerings.

• The deadline to pay your 2019 tax payments of up to $1 million has been extended 90 days – to JULY 15! With that said, there has been no mention about the upcoming April 15, 2020 First Quarter Estimated Tax Deadline.
• The federal government is working on a stimulus package that includes sending money to individuals to help us through this scary time.
• Get the advice/ support from your local Small Business Association. Connect with a free local business counselor https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/find/
• Many banks are helping affected customers with credit line increases and collection forbearance. We recommend you contact your bank for specific details that pertain to you.
• Get daily updates from the Small Business Majority Organization, and access to the latest webinars and tools related to COVID-19.

• How to Survive a Brand Quarantine During Coronavirus
• What Your Brand Should Not Do on Social Media During the Coronavirus Crisis
• Why every brand you’ve ever bought something from is sending you coronavirus emails 
• What to say in a crisis: The best advice from PR pros on how to communicate now 
• Facebook Small Business Toolkit for crises situations 
• Managing through and building resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak from Facebook 

6 Ways to Reinvent Your Etsy Business and Improve Sales During the COVID-19 Crisis