{"id":240192,"date":"2021-05-02T19:17:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T02:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=240192"},"modified":"2021-05-02T19:20:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T02:20:52","slug":"state-streamlines-covid-aid-grants-to-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/state-streamlines-covid-aid-grants-to-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"State Streamlines COVID-aid Grants to Small Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

From left to right: Everett Sands, CEO, Lendistry; Pleshette Robertson, CEO and Founder, Sac Cultural Hub; Lamar Heystek, President, ASIAN, Inc.; Julian Ca\u00f1ete, President and CEO, CA Hispanic Chambers of Commerce<\/em><\/p>\n

By Mark Hedin\/Ethnic Media Services <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on California\u2019s small businesses, the state has dedicated more than $2 billion for grants to help keep them afloat.<\/p>\n

All roads to those $5,000-$25,000 grants go through Lendistry, the sole intermediary between the state and the business community. At a telebriefing cohosted by EMS and California Black Media, \u00a0Everett Sands, Lendistry\u2019s founder and CEO, described what\u2019s new and different about the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one expected us to have 344,000 applications in the first 15 days,\u201d he recalled, looking back at the Dec. 30, 2020, inception of what was then a $500 million program.<\/p>\n

Since then, the state has raised the funding total to more than $2 billion, distributed in six rounds, including one targeting nonprofit cultural institutions only. The sixth and final round opens April 28 and will close May 4, with grants to be announced May 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cHats off to the governor and the state and the Cal OSBA (Office of the Small Business Advocate) for seeing the need,\u201d he said. \u201cCalifornia is actually setting a tone that I guarantee you we\u2019ll see other states follow in upcoming months with the American Rescue bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a grant, not a loan,\u201d Sands emphasized. \u201cThe first thing to do is just apply. I can\u2019t stress that more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applications can be initiated here<\/a> (https:\/\/careliefgrant.com\/<\/a>) in any of 18 languages. The program is open to both for-profit and non-profit businesses. Sands reiterated that simply opening up an application is the most important step in the process for COVID-19-impacted small business seeking some financial help.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to get wrapped up in the paperwork. Lendistry will provide support. Just apply. Because applying is the opportunity to get selected.\u201d Lendistry has been approving between 3,000 and 5,000 applications per day, he said.<\/p>\n

Once an application is on file, Lendistry representatives and partners will help businesses complete them, even after the deadline to apply has passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not normal,\u201d Sands admitted. But, he said, \u201cthe spirit of this program is to try to help those who were unable to get into larger programs that might have been more conducive to bigger companies,\u201d possibly because they\u2019re more adept at and accustomed to working with traditional financial institutions.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, unlike the federal Paycheck Protection Program, the funds will not be simply distributed \u201cfirst-come-first-serve\u201d as applications arrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to make sure that we gave everybody a chance,\u201d he said. Of the five rounds of financing now completed, two were only open to those companies that had been wait-listed in an earlier round. The upcoming one \u00a0is also open to new applicants.<\/p>\n

Lendistry is working with more than 100 partner organizations, located in all 58 California counties, to help facilitate the application process.<\/p>\n

In Fresno County alone, for example, there are 16 potential partners an applicant can work with. Among them are the American Indian Chamber of Commerce, ASIAN Inc., the Asian Business Institute and Resource Center, the Black Small Business Association of California, California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, CA Women\u2019s Business Center, the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce & Chamber Foundation, the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation and eight more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all here to help provide access to the program,\u201d another panelist, Lamar Heystek, president of ASIAN, Inc., one of those partners, explained. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst-come, first serve does not work for the neediest of our businesses, and that is not how we determine eligibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He touted the five or six explanatory videos each offered in eight different languages<\/a> on the Lendistry website: https:\/\/careliefgrant.com\/videos-on-demand\/<\/a>and provided his and ASIAN Inc.\u2019s email addresses (president@asianinc.org<\/a> and CAreliefgrant@asianinc.org) for further support.<\/p>\n

Hestek and Sands pointed out that the California Relief Grants Program has the potential to help businesses with costs that the federal Paycheck Protection Program would not.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese funds are not so restrictive that you couldn\u2019t use them toward the normal course of business,\u201d Hestek said, citing as examples instance, insurance, taxes, inventory or maintenance costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most impacted businesses are going to get that money first,\u201d Julian Canete of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said, another of Lendistry\u2019s partners. \u201cIt\u2019s based on need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve really been concentrating on businesses that may fall through the cracks, those real small businesses, those micro-businesses who think they may not qualify.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we don\u2019t need to do is put businesses further in debt,\u201d he said, reflecting on the decision to make the Relief Grant Program not loans, but grants or forgivable loans.<\/p>\n

Pleshette Robertson, CEO of Sac Cultural Hub and a recipient of one of the grants, expressed her appreciation of the relative simplicity of the application process. She used the Sac Cultural Hub\u2019s grant to make payroll and lease payments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grant has really served its purpose and continues to serve its purpose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From left to right: Everett Sands, CEO, Lendistry; Pleshette Robertson, CEO and Founder, Sac Cultural Hub; Lamar Heystek, President, ASIAN, Inc.; Julian Ca\u00f1ete, President and CEO, CA Hispanic Chambers of Commerce By Mark Hedin\/Ethnic Media Services As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on California\u2019s small businesses, the state has dedicated more than…<\/p>\n

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