ALBANY — The Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region is offering small businesses grants of up to $20,000 to help them survive until the economy reopens.
Executive Director Linda MacFarlane said the COVID-19 Small Business Community Grant Program is geared towards businesses with less than 50 employees that have lost between 10 to 25 percent of its revenue and that may be having difficulties navigating the federal stimulus incentives.
Many small businesses were shut out of the first round of federal money, the Payroll Protection Program, because they did not borrow from a bank. The second round is more responsive to the needs of more businesses but it still a cumbersome, complicated process.
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“There are still problems for small businesses in that they may have applications in and they don’t know if they will be awarded or if they will be awarded or when the funds will come through,” she said.
She said the grant money is important now to keep the businesses still open afloat and will remain essential when the ones forced to close begin to re-open again.
“Small businesses are the root of our neighborhoods and our community,” she said during County Executive Dan McCoy’s daily press briefing on Tuesday. “I don’t know of a single small business that has not been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.”
To apply for a grant visit the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region at mycommunityloanfund.org.