The recently passed American Rescue Plan is a new COVID disaster relief plan that will provide emergency grants, lending, and investment to hard-hit small businesses so they can rehire and retain workers and purchase the health and sanitation equipment they need to keep workers safe. If you are a small business owner,  you may be eligible for one or more of these relief options.

  • Paycheck Protection Program:The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll. Borrowers may be eligible for PPP loan forgiveness.

    SBA is currently offering PPP loans originated only by participating community financial institutions including Certified Development Companies (CDCs), SBA Microlenders, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) until May 31, 2021 or until remaining funds are exhausted. Please note that not all community financial institutions are participating in PPP.

  • COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster LoanSmall business owners and qualified agricultural businesses in all U.S. states and territories are currently eligible to apply for a low-interest loan due to COVID-19.  Agricultural businesses with 500 or fewer employees are now eligible as a result of new authority granted by Congress in response to the pandemic.  More details about qualification can be found here.
  • Restaurant Revitalization Fund 

The American Rescue Plan Act established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to provide funding to help restaurants and other eligible businesses keep their doors open. This program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.

  • Shuttered Venue Operations Grant The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program was established by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, and amended by the American Rescue Plan Act. The program includes over $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues, to be administered by SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance.

    Eligible applicants may qualify for grants equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue, with the maximum amount available for a single grant award of $10 million. $2 billion is reserved for eligible applications with up to 50 full-time employees.

These are just some of the options available to small business owners who have been financially hit by COVID-19.  Please reach out to us at mcesda@macomb.com with any more questions on eligibility and we will be more than happy to help find solutions that fit your needs.