Small businesses call on Congress to pass immediate stimulus relief

The COVID-19 pandemic has left America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs on the brink of collapse through no fault of our own. Months into this public health crisis, people are still struggling, our businesses are closing or still working with reduced operations, and many of us have been forced to lay off our hard-working employees. Even worse, 1 in 3 small businesses report they may not survive past three months without additional financial assistance. Small businesses can’t afford to wait until 2021 for relief, which is why we call on you to immediately pass a comprehensive stimulus package for Main Street that includes both short and long-term assistance. 

Small businesses employ 47% of private sector workers in the U.S. That’s nearly 60 million individuals who depend on small businesses like ours for their livelihood and the livelihood of their families. If we’re going to sustain our economy and rebuild after this crisis, we need our elected officials to put small businesses front and center in their policymaking. 

While preliminary action on economic stimulus earlier this year was a step in the right direction, the funds disbursed for emergency small business loans just scratched the surface of what we need to survive the duration of this crisis. We’ve reached a point now where struggling small businesses need long-term, comprehensive assistance to reopen or keep our businesses going. Otherwise we will still struggle to keep our doors open, rehire staff and pay off mounting debt. 

Congress must take action now to make critical changes to help small businesses, including immediately relaunching and improving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and forgiving PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) under $150,000. And for the many small business owners who did not receive assistance through federal programs, they need relief in the form of grants or a long-term recovery program intended for the most vulnerable businesses, as well as support for mission-driven lenders that are equipped to serve small businesses in disadvantaged communities. 

We urge you to act now to pass a robust stimulus relief package that includes these measures to support America’s entrepreneurs. This is the only way to ensure our small businesses and our economy can survive the ongoing and unprecedented impacts of COVID-19. 

Please add my name to the list of small business owners and advocates from across the country that have signed this letter to urge our Members of Congress to support Main Street during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.