Recovery Resources
Many organizations are providing support to help small businesses stay afloat during economic closures. Yet it is also important for businesses to look forward toward what reopening will look like and how to keep employees and customers safe in the process. In today's message, we are providing resources that support both goals:

  • Dane County Small Business Pandemic Support Grant Program provides additional funds
  • SBA opens application portal for agricultural businesses
  • WEDC launches Focus Forward platform
  • Wisconsin State Bar Association search tool helps you find a lawyer for your business' professional team
Dane County Grant Program Receives Additional $10M
Dane Buy Local and Dane County have added an additional $10 million to the Dane County Small Business Pandemic Support Grant Program . Grant amounts range from $1,000 - $50,000.

Criteria 
  • Is the business located in Dane County?
  • Is this a legitimate business?
  • Is the applicant a business of color or woman-owned? 
  • Is the business vital to the community?
  • Could their need be filled from some other source? (EIDL, PPP, Unemployment Comp, etc). 
  • Was the business healthy and stable prior to pandemic?

Deadline to apply is June 15 th

Agricultural Businesses Now Eligible to Apply for
SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)
The EIDL application portal has reopened for U.S. agricultural businesses looking to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and/or EIDL Advance. The new eligibility is made possible as a result of the latest round of funds appropriated by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Newly eligible businesses are those engaged in the production of food and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural related industries.

For agricultural businesses that submitted an EIDL application through the streamlined application portal prior to the legislative change, SBA will process these applications without the need for re-applying.

For all other businesses, the SBA has resumed processing EIDL applications that were submitted before the portal stopped accepting new applications on April 15 and will be processing these applications on a first-come, first-served basis. 
 
Eligible agricultural businesses may apply  here .
Planning for the Reopening of Your Business
WEDC Pivots Operations to Shift Focus Toward Recovery
What does economic development look like on the state level? The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), a "quasi governmental agency" bridges public and private sectors.

WEDC Resources
Typically, these projects look like:
  • providing programming money for accelerator programs
  • helping communities with Main Street revitalization
  • transforming abandoned or underused sites for business use
  • providing funding to help transform brownfield sites that need environmental remediation (former gas stations, dry cleaners, etc.) into safe sites for business
  • helping Wisconsin businesses export their products and build international trade relationships
  • attracting businesses to Wisconsin

Focusing Forward
With the onset of COVID-19, WEDC had to transform its focus. This process began with the introduction of Small Business 20/20. More recently, they've transitioned to helping businesses pivot their manufacturing toward PPE production and connecting businesses with the PPE they'll need to reopen through the Wisconsin Supplier Network.

Now, the WEDC introduces Focus Forward , a new digital platform that will provide a set of guidelines from industry associations to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in businesses as they begin to reopen. WEDC is also continuing to look for resources for small businesses and will share those on the Focus Forward site as well.
Does Your Business Need a Lawyer?
In the SBDC, we know that a big part of being a successful business is making sure that you have a team of professionals to support your business and offer expert consultation when you need it.

If your team does not currently include a lawyer, this search function by the Wisconsin State Bar Association is a good place to start. If you have questions about contracts, bankruptcy, or any other business legal questions, you can begin to make connections through this resource.

The Wisconsin SBDC Network is a proud part of the  Institute for Business & Entrepreneurship  in the  University of Wisconsin System . It is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the  U.S. Small Business Administration.