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COVID-19 Resources for North County Small Businesses

Key update on new stimulus forgivable loans.

COVID 19 Resources for Businesses
SDNEDC's San Diego North Economic Development Council's Mission is to help increase North County prosperity for all its residents.  The current months are going to put tremendous strain on our region but remember, North County's economy is highly diversified, has a workforce that is extremely talented and experienced, and an underlying set of supporting organizations that will help our region rapidly recover after the crisis passes.

1. [UPDATE] The State of California issued a "stay in place" order effective Thursday 3/19/2020.  You can find the order here.   This page also has a link to a list of "essential businesses" to help if you are uncertain as to whether your business should or should not move fully to work from home. The County of San Diego's COVID page can be found here.  We suggest this is your best resource for questions regarding how local public health officials are responding to the crisis and short term responses.

2.  We STRONGLY encourage employers to review and follow CDC Guidelines to determine planning, preparation, and response to COVID-19. Employers should encourage employees experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to call their health provider for medical advice. Hospitals will not test persons who do not exhibit COVID-19 symptoms. Guidelines for testing for COVID-19 can be found here.

3.  NEW (AND IMPORTANT)  Last week, Congress passed and the President signed a $2.2 trillion dollar stimulus bill. For a broad overview see, for example, this article.  As part of the package, there is $349 billion set aside for FORGIVABLE small business loans to help firms preserve their payroll and business operations during the spring. These loans are to be administered through traditional SBA approved lenders, hopefully by passing some of the challenges experienced under the SBA-direct emergency loan program.For an overview of the program and how it works in concert with the previous disaster loan programs, this overview by Foley and Lardner LLP  is fairly straight forward and a good place to start.For a list of SBA-approved lenders with contact information, click here.SDNEDC has several member banks who have offered to provide concierge-level service to North County small businesses.  If your banker is overwhelmed, email Erik by clicking here.

4. [UPDATE].   The North County SBDC  has a dedicated team to help businesses navigate these programs.  They are here to help and their services are free.   Register here and a SBDC consultant will be in touch as soon as possible. 

5. [NEW]  The City of San Marcos launched a small business loan program.  For more information, click here.

6.  [NEW]  Modern Times Beer, which has a location in Encinitas, put out a fantastic financial planning guide and resilience strategy. We believe any small business in any industry would find the ideas extremely valuable in respect to how to maximize cash, minimize expenses, and how to develop a plan of attack.  You can find their thoughts here.

7. [UPDATE] Some North County employers ARE hiring to meet a surge in demand.  We have a link to those we know of here.  Employers that are hiring to meet the surge are encouraged to contact ebruvold@sdnedc.org so we can spread the word among our North County partners. We have several new employers listed on the page.  Thank you to our partners at EDD for the information.

8,  CDC Small Business is starting up certain loan programs for small businesses. Terms are generous and it is likely that as a local mission-driven lender they can turn around your application quickly.  You can learn more at this link.  North County businesses should directly reach out to CDC's North County representative, Miriam Torres Baltys, at 619-414-0030.

9. As part of the first stimulus bill, there was a new provision put in place for sick and family leave that is likely to impact small businesses.  Please review carefully the brief link put together by CalTax as it impacts businesses of between 1 and 500 employees.

10.  SDNEDC-investor (W)right On Communications has put together an FAQ for crisis communications. Click here.

11.   Secretary of the Treasury announced a 90-day extension for any federal taxes due - from April 15 to July 15. You can find the specific IRS guidance here.  California Franchise tax board is making a similar 90 day delay (link here).

12.  [UPDATE] North County cities have compiled lists of restaurants open for take out, drive thru, and delivery.  SDNEDC has a web page with links to all.  Please, if you can, frequent these North County businesses.  

13.  The County of San Diego has compiled data on how businesses can help fight the disease and links to guidance from the CDC. You can find that letter at this link.

14. [UPDATE] The U.S. Small Business Administration, because of the unprecedented demands on its IT infrastructure,  is advising applications for its Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to fill out a hard copy of the application and then upload the documents.  You can find out general SBA information at this link and about the disaster relief program here. The SBA disaster assistance customer service center can be reached at 1-800-659-2955  or e-mailed at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  Locally, the SBA’s office in San Diego can be reached at 619- 557-7250 and their website found here.  SDNEDC is advising businesses to first reach out to SBDC (item #4) and/or an SBA-approved lending institution (list here) to develop the best mix of options since SBA is overwhelmed and likely to take some period of time before making decisions on the loan application.

15.  You should be aware of options your employees may have in respect to making an unemployment or disability claim if their work hours and compensation are impacted by COVID-19. You can access information at the EDD website. 

16.  The San Diego Workforce Partnership can assist business owners with issues surrounding workforce reductions. You can fill out a form here and the partnership has committed to a 24-hour turn around in responding. SDNEDC can also assist you with connecting you with members of SDNEDC who are HR experts.

17. Each North County City has an economic development manager or director available to assist you.  Their contact information can be found here.  The Innovate78 collaborative also has a blog you can see here which contains similar COVID19 information.

18. SDNEDC is EXTREMELY proud and honored to have as an investor and partner the North County Food Bank.  You can follow this link  to see what they are doing and ways you can help.

19. Several ISP and Utilities have announced a grace period for paying bills.  SDG&E's guidance is here. SDNEDC is encouraging businesses to reach out to these providers as well as your landlord to start discussions as you manage cash flow during this crisis.

20.  SDNEDC-investors with commercial real estate have offered to assist North County businesses with understanding your commercial real options if you do not have a pre-existing relationship with a commercial broker. Click here to send an email on this subject to Erik.

21. Oceanside leather goods company Rais Case is sewing masks to give to local hospitals, the homeless, and the rest of our community. They are accepting material donations including 100% cotton fabric, elastic, and twist ties. You can also help the effort by donating $1 per mask via Venmo to @raiscase.  2

2. The City of Oceanside's utilities department has launched a program to provide relief to businesses shuttered due to state/county orders. View the information here.