What happened ?
... the PPP loan program for small businesses was funded with $350 billion.
The U.S. has 30.2 million small businesses.
That is an average of $10,769 per small business. It should have been plenty to help close a two month gap.
A loophole in the CARES act allowed national corporations with less than 500 employees *per location* to qualify each individual location as a "small business."
According to the CARES act, the restaurant chain Ruth's Chris steakhouse qualified for a loan.
Last year they made $42 million in profits.
Last year they spent $41 million in stock buybacks.
Last week, they received $20 million in PPP loans - earmarked for small businesses.
It is shameful that a national restaurant chain who used the entirety of their 2019 profits to reward investors then greedily took funding that was earmarked to help 200 other small businesses.
The government created loopholes and left the distribution of loans up to the banks. Banks prioritized their top customers while local small businesses were wait-listed.
On April 16, 2020 small businesses that had submitted a loan request were notified that the program was out of money. In Arizona, 4.7% of small businesses actually received funds totaling only $11,000.00.
Small businesses in Arizona were denied access to funding that was needed to cover payroll. Small businesses such as your local coffee shop or cafe which are listed as essential services were denied adequate funding to support their workers.
This is our chance to truly raise our voices and help small businesses in Arizona and all across the nation.
The deadline is May 4, 2020.
The Citizens' Toolbox, a grass roots initiative to empower and enable our fellow citizens to advocate for themselves and for each other. The Citizens' Toolbox serves to amplify our collective voices and project them upward for rapid reaction to existing initiatives with policy-specific conversations.
Our first objective is to enable increased communication with our senators and representatives in order urge them to replenish the SBA/PPP loan fund.
This fund previously held $350B but ran dry only 14 days after opening. A closer look revealed that millions in funds were disbursed to large chain companies, including 50 publicly traded ones, and showed uneven access to loans across our Nation. Congress is in recess till May 4th, a delay we cannot afford.
Friends, the time to act is now and bring this to the forefront. The link below leads to a fillable form, applicable to EVERY state.
Citizens' Toolbox
Once you have been redirected to the Citizens' Toolbox the following questions will display:
1) Input your name
2) Look up your representative, link provided- and enter the name of ONE of your representatives. Be sure to secure their contact information from their official website.
3) Choose your voice: Small Business Owner or Concerned Citizen.
4) Enter your email address and TCT will send you a personalized letter you can then forward or mail to your representative.
After clicking on SUBMIT you will receive the email template that you can then forward to a senator or representative of your choice. Repeat steps 2-4 for each of your representatives. Mail, email, post & tag your elected officials.
Below are links for Senators and House of Representatives. Most have Contact pages on their own websites where you can paste the template letter and send directly to their office.
Contact U.S. Senators
Contact the House of Representatives
It is our hope to grow this quickly to serve as additional support to coalitions and platforms in service of the greater good of our local & national communities. Information gathered is secured strictly to facilitate advocacy opportunities. We’re in this together, and we will be successful together.
Friends, we’ve got work to do. It’s time to raise our voices and #SpeakUP.
Want to Read more about this topic? COPY/Paste into your browser: https://www.inc.com/diana-ransom/sba-paycheck-protection-program-federal-reserve-main-street-lending-program.html