| City, Working Solutions Launch Home-Based Business Grant Program |
| The City of Oakland received $36.9 million in State of California CARES Act funding. Of that amount, the Oakland CARES Act Home-Based Business Grant Program will distribute $500,000 in grants of $2,000 to $4,000 to home-based, for-profit businesses in Oakland. Working Solutions, a Bay Area nonprofit, is administering the application and grant-making process. The grant application period closes at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, November 2. Online applications in four languages are available at: https://www.workingsolutions.org/oakland-home-based-grants Programa de fondos para empresas familiares financiado por la Ley CARES de Oakland / Oakland CARES Act Home-Based Business Grant Program La ciudad de Oakland tiene el agrado de anunciar el Programa de fondos para empresas familiares para otorgar fondos de $2,000 a $4,000 a pequeñas empresas con fines de lucro familiares. Este programa de fondos es posible gracias a la financiación federal de la Ley de Ayuda, Alivio y Seguridad Económica por Coronavirus (CARES). Working Solutions, una entidad sin fines de lucro del Área de la Bahía, está administrando el proceso de solicitud y concesión de fondos. Las solicitudes se encuentran disponibles en cuatro idiomas en https://www.workingsolutions.org/oakland-home-based-grants |
| Legal Services for Entrepreneurs (LSE) |
| Legal Services for Entrepreneurs is an economic justice and community empowerment project of the Lawyers’ Committee. LSE provides free transactional legal services to low-income individuals who want to start or develop businesses, businesses committed to investing in economically distressed communities, including hiring people with arrest and conviction records, and mom and pop shops located in areas where gentrification is a force for displacement. Online application available at: |
| https://lccrsf.org/get-help/economic-justice-legal-services-for-entrepreneurs-lse/ |
| City of Oakland Update Prepare for Additional Funding for Payroll Protection Program |
| In preparation for a second round of funding for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP),Oakland businesses are encouraged to prepare to submit applications now. The PPP offers forgivable loans up to $10 million to keep employees on payroll or quickly rehire employees and maintain salary levels. To be forgiven, 75% of the loan must be used for payroll. We expect demand will again be high and recommend early applications. Find a PPP Lender You must apply for PPP through a participating lender. Contact your bank to see if they are taking applications, or use SBA’s find a lender tool at www.sba.gov/paycheckprotection/find. If you are a Square, PayPal, or Intuit customer, they are now authorized lenders and you can apply for a forgivable PPP loan through their websites. PayPal is currently accepting applications in anticipation of funding. If you have laid off your employees due to lost revenue and qualify, this loan is also an opportunity to hire them back. SBA will forgive the portion of the loan that is used to cover the first 8 weeks of payroll and certain other expenses, including employer-provided health benefits, paid leave, rent, utilities and mortgage interest. Sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed may also qualify. Even if your business is closed as a result of the Shelter in Place order, you may be able to use the Payroll Protection Program to rehire and retain employees, and keep them on your payroll. The new federal legislation is also likely to include additional funds for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, that provides a cash advance grant of up to $10,000. Owners who decide not to take the loan or who are declined still keep this cash advance as a grant. The amount of the advance will be determined by the number of your pre-disaster (i.e., as of January 31, 2020) employees. The advance will provide $1,000 per employee up to a maximum of $10,000. |
| Grant Opportunities: – LISC Small Business Relief Grant – Salesforce Care Small Business Grants – Facebook Small Business Grants Program – Oakland Small Business Emergency Grant Program |
| Additional Resources: – City of Oakland – Small Business Administration – Alameda County – SBDC Alameda County – No Immigrant No Spice |