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Mayor orders closure of non-essential businesses from 10pm tonight (March 25) through April 24
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To mitigate the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), Mayor Muriel Bowser issued
Mayor’s Order 2020-053: Closure of Non-Essential Businesses and Prohibition on Large Gatherings During Public Health Emergency for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
. This Mayor’s Order requires temporary closure of the on-site operation of all non-essential businesses and prohibits gatherings of 10 or more people.
The intent of the Order is to temporarily cease all non-essential business activities, including tour guides and touring services; gyms, health clubs, spas, and massage establishments; theaters, auditoriums, and other places of large gatherings; nightclubs; hair, nail, and tanning salons and barbershops; tattoo parlors; sales not involved in essential services; retail clothing stores; and professional services not devoted to assisting essential business operations.
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IMPORTANT:
DC Small Business Recovery Microgrants -- applications now open
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Mayor Bowser and the Council of the District of Columbia are investing $25 million in the COVID-19 Recovery Effort and the
DC Small Business Recovery Microgrants Program
, which will be housed in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.
Pursuant to the “COVID-19 Response Emergency Amendment Act of 2020” effective March 17, 2020 (D.C. Act 23-247), the DC Small Business Recovery Microgrants Program will offer grants to small, local businesses, individual contractors, self-employed individuals, and nonprofits to meet their short-term financial needs. The grant can cover employee wages and benefits (including fringe benefits associated with employment, such as health insurance), accounts payable, fixed costs, inventory, rent, and utilities.
**Application closes at 6pm on Tuesday, March 31st**
Click here for more information and to apply
Additional Notes on Microgrants
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Goal is to begin notification of award by next Friday April 3 or Monday April 6
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Important
: On March 25, DMPED changed some items on the application in response to concerns that could change the amount a business is eligible for. Specifically, the application has been updated to capture estimated future earnings and calculate economic injury starting from March 11, the date Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public health emergency, as opposed to aligning with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster period beginning January 31.
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Businesses who submitted applications on March 24 may want to reapply because their losses may have been diluted in that first application.
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Program is designed to be a quick infusion of resources as businesses plan for larger relief
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Not a competitive grant - If you are eligible you will get an award up to $25,000
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Businesses that reach an initial threshold -- you will get an award of some size
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Independent, locally owned franchises are eligible national franchises are not
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Great Street grantees can use their existing grants for operational purposes - so they are not eligible to apply for this particular grant.
(If Great Street project has already started, DMPED will take under advisement)
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There are rumors on the street that applying for this grant will disqualify businesses from SBA loans-DMPED/DSLBD need help in countering those rumors -
this is not true
.
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Those getting dollars from Robust Retail Grants ARE eligible to apply
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Tax service companies (considered seasonal) and religious organizations are not eligible.
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There will be additional opportunities that will be rolled out soon
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Additional questions added about future revenue
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25% loss is a factor but not requirement
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Amount of grant is up to $25,000
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They are not pulling clean hands certificates but they expect that businesses applying do not owe OTR more than $200.
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The more DC resident employees, the more preference points a business will get
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There may be some level of application assistance available over the weekend from DMPED
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There will be a presentations from DMPED every day on how to submit applications
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Free Webinar: DC Small Business Microgrant Info Sessions
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Tomorrow LEDC will be facilitating 3 Virtual Information Sessions regarding the DC Small Business Microgrants. Please share with your community or anyone that would benefit from this important information.
Thursday, March 26, 2020, 9:00 am
in Spanish
Sesion informativa sobre ayuda para pequenos negocios en DC ($1,000/$1000/$25,000)
Unase desde su computador o telefono intelligent usando este link https://zoom.us/j/162005709
Presentador/Contacto Karla Posada kposada@ledcmetro.org
Thursday, March 26, 2020, 10:00 am in
English
Info session. DC Small Business Microgrants ($1,000/$1000/$25,000)
Join us by using the following link https://zoom.us/j/777125148
Presenter/Contact Carlos Brown cbrown@ledcmetro.org
Thursday, March 26, 2020, 3:30 pm
Bilingual
Info session. DC Small Business Recovery Microgrants
Join us by using the following link https://zoom.us/j/865028526
Presenter/contact Omar Velasco ovelasco@ledcmetro.org
If a business is not able to attend any of the above webinars and would like to get information, please out to the Small Business Intake Coordinator: Sergio Vonhoroch at
svonhoroch@ledcmetro.org
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From Kathy Hollinger, President and CEO:
Congressional Federal Relief Legislation, Phase 3
A bipartisan agreement was reached late last night on a recovery bill, with votes expected in the Senate (and possibly the House) today. The text of the agreement has not been released formally. We believe it will be out around 10:00am ET. As a result, we do not have guidance for you yet on the substance or its impact on the industry. Democratic Leader Schumer released a letter to his colleagues identifying what he secured in the bill. A summary of that list is below. More to come.
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4 months of extended unemployment insurance, instead of 3 months
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$55 billion increase in the Marshall Plan for our Health Care System
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$150 billion for a state, tribal, and local Coronavirus Relief fund
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$10 billion for SBA emergency grants of up to $10,000 to provide immediate relief for small business operating costs
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$17 billion for SBA to cover 6 months of payments for small businesses with existing SBA loans
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$30 billion in emergency education funding and $25 billion in emergency transit funding
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$30 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as private nonprofits providing critical and essential services
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More than $10 billion for the Indian Health Services and other tribal programs
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Make rent, mortgage, and utility costs eligible for SBA loan forgiveness
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Ban stock buybacks for the term of the government assistance plus 1 year on any company receiving a government loan from the bill.
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Establish robust worker protections attached to all federal loans for businesses
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Create real-time public reporting of Treasury transactions under the Act, including terms of loans, investments or other assistance to corporations
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Create of Treasury Department Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery to provide oversight of Treasury loans and a Pandemic Response Accountability Committee to protect taxpayer dollars
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Add a retention tax credit for employers to encourage businesses to keep workers on payroll during the crisis
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Provide income tax exclusion for individuals who are receiving student loan repayment assistance from their employer
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Save hundreds of thousands of airline industry jobs and prohibit airlines from stock buybacks and CEO bonuses
Essential Critical Infrastructure Worker Letter
All across the region in DC, Maryland and Virginia, there are effective mandates ordered or currently in effect to include closures of nonessential businesses. DC’s Order that closes all nonessential businesses goes into effect tonight, March 25th at 10pm. Both Maryland and Virginia’s nonessential Orders are already in effect.
Restaurants offering take-out and delivery are considered essential businesses, and restaurant workers are considered essential employees that can be asked to come to work even when there are federal, state, or local, shelter-in-place Orders. Still, more and more states and localities are restraining travel, particularly during certain hours of the day, while restaurant workers need to arrive earlier than the time restrictions to make bread, brew coffee, etc., and stay past curfew to clean, disinfect, and close the premises. Meanwhile, some restaurant workers are running into issues with law enforcement restricting workers movement to and from work.
The Restaurant Law Center drafted a letter specifically for restaurant employers that they can amend to give to their essential employees stating that the holder is an "Essential Critical Infrastructure Worker" under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security guidelines. Thus, the worker should be allowed to continue to or from his place of employment.
Click here
to access letters for DC, MD, and VA.
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Ward 1 Small Business Town Hall on Friday
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Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau will be joined by District Bridges and the Adams Morgan Partnership BID to give businesses an update on how to access help in response to COVID-19 and to listen to concerns of our Ward 1 businesses.
Friday, March 27th, 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
To Dial-In Call: 1-650-479-3208
Access Code: 478 884 715
To Join Via Video
Click Here
Please submit questions to the Committee Director, Benjamin Davis at
BDavis@dccouncil.us
by noon on Thursday, March 26th if you do not wish to ask them live.
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The District Government needs information about the impact of Covid-19 on your business
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The DC Government wants to know how your business is affected, what your status is, and what assistance the District can provide you at this time. The District developed a
COVID-19 Business Inquiry Form
that will allow local businesses to share their status and help the District put you in contact with the resources you need to expedite your recovery.
Click here to complete the form
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Important Resources for Small Businesses from CNHED
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Capitol City Community Development Corporation
4645 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave., NE
www.capitolcitycdc.org
(202) 800-7966
DC Small Business Development Center Network,
Howard University School of Business
2600 6th Street, NW, Room 128
www.dcsbdc.org
(202) 806-1550
DC Women’s Business Center
740 15th Street, NW, 4th Floor
www.dcwbc.org
(202) 393-8307
Development Corp. of Columbia Heights
3419 14th Street, NW
www.dcch.org
(202) 483-4986
Dreaming Out Loud
80 M Street, SE, c/o We Work
(202) 800-2612
Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
910 17th Street, NW
www.gwhcc.org
(202) 728-0352
The HIVE 2.0
1231-B Good Hope Rd, SE
www.thedchive.com
(202) 733-6810
Latino Economic Development Center
1401 Columbia Road, NW, Unit C-1
www.ledcmetro.org
(202) 540-7400
Life Asset
2448A 18th Street, NW
contactus@lifeasset.org
www.lifeasset.org
(202) 709-0652
SB Works
2316 Rhode Island Ave., NE
www.sbworksdc.org
(202) 803-5400
Small Business Resource Center, Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs
1325 21st Street, SW
www.dcrasbrc.ecenterdirect.com
(202) 442-4538
Washington Area Community Investment Fund
2012 Rhode Island Ave., NE
www.wacif.org
(202) 529-5505
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D.C. Policy Center survey
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COVID-19 Small Business Impacts Questionnaire
How is COVID-19 affecting your small business?
The purpose of this
questionnaire
is to help researchers at the D.C. Policy Center learn how COVID-19 and its economic impacts are affecting small and local businesses in and around Washington, D.C. Your responses will inform our work on how COVID-19 is affecting D.C. businesses and workers, and what policy responses would be most helpful. Individual responses are confidential, but the broader research will be shared with policymakers, government officials, members of the business community, and others, including publications on our website,
dcpolicycenter.org
.
Please complete the questionnaire
by Wednesday, March 25th
. We hope you will help by answering a few questions about your own business circumstances and how COVID-19 is impacting you. This questionnaire is not meant to be a representative survey but will provide valuable insights to our researchers that will be crucial to informing our work. (If you are a nonprofit organization,
please click here
.)
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Update on SBA Disaster Loans
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Update:
There will be a loan deferral for a year so business can have working capital more immediately and for longer - without having to worry about debt repayment until next year.
DC businesses can
start the process by clicking here
and then “Apply for Assistance.” You can prepare to apply by reviewing the “
Three Step Process
” of SBA Disaster Loans to understand what to expect in the application process. Disaster loan applicants can call the SBA Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (7 am -9 pm every day) or email
disastercustomerservice@sba.gov
for help in completing their online application. SBA staff and its Resource Partner network, consisting of Small Business Development Centers, SCORE Chapters, Women’s Business Centers, and Veterans Business Outreach Centers will continue to support small businesses with accessing federal resources and navigating their preparedness plans. Local assistance can be found at
www.sba.gov/local-assistance
. DC businesses can also download the
2020 Small Business Resource Guide for the Washington Metropolitan Area
as a resource.
As you look to apply for these SBA loans, here some things to keep in mind and simplify the process:
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Start
the online application process by
clicking here
and then press
Apply for Assistance
;
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Prepare
to apply by reviewing the “
Three Step Process
” of SBA Disaster Loans to understand what to expect in the application process;
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Remember
that the online application requires at least
three (3) years
of tax returns; and,
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Contact
the SBA Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at
1.800.659.2955
(7 AM to 9 PM - every day) or
disastercustomerservice@sba.gov
for help in completing the online application.
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If you need any additional assistance in the application process, please do not hesitate to contact DSLBD’s DC PTAC Team at
DSLBD.PTAC@dc.gov
or 202.727.3900 (select option #7).
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"Buy Restaurant Bonds" campaign encourages customers to support restaurants by gift card purchases
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The Adams Morgan Partnership is trying to help restaurants and bars that have forced to close or severely limit their services by encouraging customers to purchase gift cards for future dining. We are trying to make a splash with this campaign -- modeled after the
Buy War Bonds
campaigns of WWI and WWII -- to help draw attention to our 100+ restaurants and employees that are facing an uncertain future. Please join in via your own social media accounts using the hashtag
#BuyRestaurantBonds
Please tag us in your social media posts about the operating status of your business so we can pass the information along.
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POST YOUR EVENT ON OUR WEBSITE FOR FREE
If your business has an upcoming event happening in Adams Morgan, you can
submit it to our website here
. Submissions are moderated to ensure they are relevant to the Adams Morgan community.
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SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Sponsor one of our community events! Partner with our community while reaching some of the city's most desirable demographics. For details, contact
Kristen Barden
at
202-997-0783.
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©
Adams Morgan Partnership
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