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The Hartwell Sun
Social distancing measures have knocked many businesses off their feet, but there are helping hands to get back on solid financial ground, local business leaders say.
Hart County Chamber of Commerce Director Christine Blomberg said the chamber is providing multiple resources to help small businesses during this unprecedented time. A list of resources can be found on the chamber’s website.
“We’re communicating as much as possible through email and phone calls to our members,” Blomberg said. “We have also started the Facebook group ‘Support Local Businesses-Hart County.’”
To help small businesses struggling in this international crisis, the U.S. Small Business Administration is now offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to all Georgia small businesses that qualify and are suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the agency announced last week.
Blomberg said several of the local businesses have already applied for the loans and that the chamber can try to help or connect them with someone else who can help complete the application process.
“We’re definitely encouraging our businesses to go ahead and apply for them. I don’t know how long those funds will be there, so we’d rather have people go ahead and have their name in the pot,” Blomberg said.
President Donald Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) on March 18, which includes two distinct provisions that provide emergency leave to employees: Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act; and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act. The paid leave provisions are effective on April 1. The act applies to private sector employers with less than 500 employees and governmental employers with one or more employees.
Also under the FFCRA, the U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits, designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing coronavirus-related leave to their employees.
Virtual consulting and online resources are available for small businesses through UGA’s Small Business Development Center. Business consultants with the development center have put together a guide for small businesses as a checklist to help them navigate the current struggles many businesses are facing. The guide can be found at www.georgiasbdc.org.
The public can help too. Several local leaders, including Hartwell Economic and Community Development Director Jason Ford, are encouraging residents to buy gift cards from small businesses such as restaurants and shops to be used at a later date.
For more information about help for businesses, visit the Hart County Chamber of Commerce’s website at www.hart-chamber.org.