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COVID-19 Updates and Resources

INFORMATION

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Where to Find Government Updates:

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RESOURCES FOR BUSINESSES

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FORGIVABLE PPP LOANS 

First time PPP borrowers: 

  • Qualifications:

    • Businesses and non-profits (including sole proprietors and independent contractors) in operation prior to February 2020 with less than 500 employees.

    • There’s no revenue loss requirement. 

  • Amount: 

    • Can receive up to 2.5 times the businesses’ average monthly payroll costs and healthcare costs or $10 million — whichever is less.

  • Use of funds:

    • Payroll (no more than $100,000 annual salary per employee).

    • Benefits (including paid sick leave and insurance premiums) and taxes on compensation.

    • Mortgage interest, rent and utilities. 

Second time PPP borrowers:

  • Qualifications:

    • Businesses and non-profits (including sole proprietors and independent contractors) with less than 300 employees.

    • Gross income must have fallen 25% or more in the first, second, or third quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter in 2019. 

  • Amount: 

    • Can receive up to 2.5 times the businesses’ average monthly payroll costs and healthcare costs or $2 million — whichever is less. 

    • Food service and accomodation industries such as hotels, restaurants, and caterers can receive 3.5 times the businesses’ average monthly payroll and healthcare costs or $2 million — whichever is less.

  • Use of funds:

    • Payroll (no more than $100,000 annual salary per employee)

    • Benefits (including paid sick leave and insurance premiums) and taxes on compensation

    • Mortgage interest, rent and utilities 

Expenses that count towards PPP loan forgiveness:

  • All payroll and healthcare expenses.

  • Non-payroll expenses that still contribute towards forgiveness include: 

    • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) costs to help businesses comply with federal and local guidelines for health and safety related to COVID-19.

    • Software, cloud computing, human resources, and accounting needs. 

    • Any spending not covered by insurance that is related to property damage due to incidents that took place in 2020.

    • Supplier costs on essential goods. For example, a restaurant’s purchase of perishable goods.

Application Process for PPP Loans: 

  • Applications will be accepted through March 31, 2021

  • Submit applications to the bank with whom you do business, or contact banks and lenders in your area to find out if they are supporting the PPP program

Free Legal and Technical Assistance:

  • For free legal assistance submitting your application or questions about your eligibility, contact the Covid Relief Coalition

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DOWNLOAD the EMPLOYMENT LAW in the time of COVID-19 Slides here. 

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The CARES Act is a federal law that directs $2 trillion in funding to COVID-19 relief efforts. The CARE Act is wide reaching and includes help for individuals and small businesses. For more information on what is included in the CARE Act, visit www.somervillema.gov/coronavirushelp. Local business owners can also find information at www.somervillema.gov/covidbizhelp.


Assistance for small businesses includes:

  • Paycheck Protection Program Loan

    • This loan helps businesses maintain cash-flow and keep workers on payroll. If payroll is maintained, loans can be forgiven.

    • This program offers up to eight weeks of payroll forgiveness, no Small Business Administration (SBA) fees, and least six months of deferral with maximum deferrals of up to a year.

    • Businesses impacted by COVID-19 can apply for loans through June 30, 2020, and loans are retroactive to February 15, 2020, in order to help bring back workers that may have already been laid off.

    • Eligible businesses include for-profit businesses and 501(c)(3) organizations with 500 or fewer employees, as well as sole proprietorships. 

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Download the PPP LOAN FACT SHEET

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Helpful documents linked and attached:

 

  1. CARES Act provisions at a glance

  2. PPP Business Guide and Checklist • Leer en español (PDF)

  3. Spreadsheet to help collect the data for your PPP loan application (credit Nardella & Taylor, LLP in Lexington): download to your computer to use

  4. PPP application download or save to your computer to use

  5. More details for PPP borrowers. Folks around the nation are working tirelessly to understand the details of this package - you’ll see this is a working document! ​

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  • Small Business Debt Relief Program

    • This program will provide immediate relief to small businesses with non-disaster SBA loans, in particular 7(a), 504, and microloans.

    • Under it, SBA will cover all loan payments on these SBA loans, including principal, interest, and fees, for six months.

    • This relief will also be available to new borrowers who take out loans within six months of the President signing the bill into law.

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  • Economic Injury Disaster Loans & Emergency Economic Injury Grants

    • These grants provide an emergency advance of up to $10,000 to small businesses and private non-profits harmed by COVID-19 within three days of applying for an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).

    • To access the advance, you first apply for an EIDL and then request the advance.

    • The advance does not need to be repaid under any circumstance and may be used to keep employees on payroll, to pay for sick leave, meet increased production costs due to supply chain disruptions, or pay business obligations, including debts, rent and mortgage payments. 

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Important clarification: Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) – aka SBA disaster loans – are different. Helpful things to know:

  • SBA disaster loans may require collateral for loan amounts over $25,000

  • To receive a SBA disaster loan, you generally need to have no other source of credit

  • SBA disaster loans can cover most operating expenses

  • To apply for a (non-forgivable) EIDL loan, click here.

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  • Small Business Tax Provisions

    • The Employee Retention Credit for Employers Subject to Closure or Experiencing Economic Hardship provides a refundable payroll tax credit for 50 percent of wages paid by eligible employers to certain employees during the COVID-19 crisis. The credit is available to employers, including non-profits, whose operations have been fully or partially suspended as a result of a government order limiting commerce, travel or group meetings. The credit is also provided to employers who have experienced a greater than 50 percent reduction in quarterly receipts, measured on a year-over-year basis. The credit is not available to employers receiving assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program. The credit is provided through December 31, 2020.

    • The Delay of Payment of Employer Payroll Taxes allows taxpayers to defer paying the employer portion of certain payroll taxes through the end of 2020, with all 2020 deferred amounts due in two equal installments, one at the end of 2021, the other at the end of 2022. Payroll taxes that can be deferred include the employer portion of FICA taxes, the employer and employee representative portion of Railroad Retirement taxes (that are attributable to the employer FICA rate), and half of SECA tax liability. Deferral is not provided to employers receiving assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program.

  • Counseling & Training

    • Resource partners including Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), Women’s Business Centers (WBC), or SCORE mentorship chapters will receive additional funds to expand their reach and better support small business owners with counseling and up-to-date information regarding COVID-19.

    • There will soon be a joint platform that consolidates information and resources related to COVID-19 in order to provide consistent, timely information to small businesses. 

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LISC/Verizon Small Business Grant Application Goes Live: #PayItForward

Verizon has committed to an initial fund of $2.5 million with LISC, with the potential of an additional $2.5 million to provide critical relief to small businesses and non-profits facing immediate financial threats. US Bank also has contributed another $500,000 to the fund.

 

Apply for the LISC Rapid Relief and Resiliency Fund by clicking here. The application process is now open and applications must be submitted by April 4 at 11:59 p.m. to be considered.

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The MA Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and Baker-Polito Administration are working closely with the U.S. SBA to activate the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program which would provide assistance to eligible businesses and non-profits impacted by COVID-19.  The 1st step in this process is to meet a minimum threshold of affected businesses within MA.​  Affected small businesses and non-profits should download, complete, and submit the SBA EIDL Worksheet ( https://lnkd.in/ewF7VBy ) & Instructions to expedite activation of the EIDL program.  ​Completed forms can be submitted by email to Disaster.Recovery@mass.gov or by fax to (508) 820-1401.  If you do fax the form, please include your e mail.     Please note, this initial survey form is not a SBA loan application.  ​When the EIDL program is activated, you will be contacted to apply directly to the SBA and this website will be updated with application details. For questions, please contact Disaster.Recovery@mass.gov  ​About the EIDL program: EIDLs provide small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses until normal operations resume.

 

SBA Offers Statewide Disaster Assistance to Massachusetts Small Businesses Economically Impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19)Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call (800) 877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.  The deadline to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan is Dec. 18, 2020.

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​Benefits and Protections to Donate excess Food: http://www.chlpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/handout-vFINAL.pdf

  • Project SOUP is open and may be able to accept produce and retail-pack (not bulk) dry goods.

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Tax Relief for Small Businesses For small businesses, defined as those who paid less than $150,000 in 2019 in sales and meals, or room occupancy taxes, we will be postponing the payment of their respective sales, meals, or room occupancy taxes.

  1. Taxes due for March, April, and May will instead be due on June 20.

  2. All penalties and interest that would otherwise apply will be waived.

  3. The Department of Revenue is currently drafting emergency regulations to put this relief in place, and we expect them to be finalized before Friday.

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RESOURCES FOR EMPLOYEES

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Unemployment Resources from the State and the general Department of Unemployment website

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WorkShare The State’s Office of Workforce and Labor offers a program allowing businesses to reduce the hours of permanent full-time and part-time employees between 10% to 60% with the remainder of hours being made up with Unemployment Assistance. This can help prevent layoffs and keep workers employed without undue hardship on a business. You can apply here, or get more information from the State’s Rapid Response staff by emailing charles.bennett@state.ma.us or calling (617) 620-4965. The City will continue to make more information on unemployment assistance available in the coming days.

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Grant Funding Opportunities:

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Restaurant Strong Fund: https://www.restaurantstrong.org/index.html

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BARTENDER EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: https://www.usbgfoundation.org/beap

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Emergency Funds for Boston-Area Service Workers

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The Boston Music Maker Relief Fund

 

Camberville Hospitality Workers Fund 

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BUSINESSES

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MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

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How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, “In the context of health and ecology, things that grow unchecked are often considered parasitic or cancerous. Yet we inhabit a culture that privileges novelty and growth over the cyclical and the regenerative.”

 

And some ideas for what to do when you put your phone down.

https://medium.com/@amandamiklik_llc/100-screen-free-ways-to-spend-your-time-keeping-yourself-and-others-safe-from-the-novel-884201860373?sk=d8cd647309ce247f4e9f132ad827400f

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

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