Dec 30 Newsletter - $475M CA Relief Grant, $900B Stimulus Bill & Mark your calendar for Jan 2021 Events

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

This Newsletter Sponsored by Journeys Photo Solutions

Overwhelmed by a photo mess?

Confused about cloud storage options or frustrated by the thousands of digital photos on your phone and you cannot find the one you are looking for?

Journeys Photo Solutions is here for you!

Do you have boxes of old photos, VHS tapes or other old media you have been meaning to organize and digitize? Bring those memories back into your life to enjoy and share.

For special offers and a free tip sheet visit us at www.journeysphotos.com.

Look what's new! You can now sponsor our newsletters!

Newsletters go to 1,300+ & we have an 'above industry average' open rate.

Even if not opened, the reader will see you in their email 'reading preview pane'.

$100 for 4-week series & $30 for an individual week - Email Lisa for availability

CA Relief Grant, Stimulus Bill & Jan Events

Monday's Newsletter includes Harassment Prevention Training - Due 1/1/21 & Discount

& New COVID Notification Requirements

*$475M CA Relief Grant - Application opens Dec 30 & ends Jan 8

*President Trump signs $900 Billion Stimulus Bill

*SBA Webinar on Stimulus Bill with Congressman Mike Thompson

*Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Forgiveness & PPP 2

*Jan 6 - Noon Times Lunch 'IN' - Do you have a plan for long term care?

*Jan 11 - New & 'Not So New' Member Orientation - Maximize membership

*Jan 13 - Virtual Networking Mixer hosted by Sonoma Winegrowers Inn

*Jan 14 - Planning for Financial Recovery - More info coming soon

*Jan 21 - 1st Ever Sonoma County Blitz - RP, Mark West & Windsor Chambers

$475 Million California Relief Grant

To help you know what to do to prepare to apply, SBDC is hosting daily webinars at 11am. Click Here to register. We strongly recommend that you attend one of the webinars. You can get assistance from our local SBDC on this grant as well any help you need. Go to their website and click on ‘Apply Now’ to be assigned a business advisor. Their services are free.

This grant has been called the $500M CA Relief Grant but it is actually $475M. The funds will be distributed in two halves, so $237.5M in each round.

Here is a link to the CA Relief Grant Website which has lots of information including eligibility requirements, how funding decisions will be made, the grant amounts which range from $5,000 to $25,000 and more. Lendistry is handling the grant applications and approval process, they processed over $400M in PPP loans in the State of California.

See the website for complete details, but here is some information on who is eligible. You must be an active business on June 1, 2019, independent contractors, 1099 workers and non-profits eligible too. You must have been negatively impacted by Covid-19. If you have multiple locations or franchisees, only apply once. Churches are not eligible.

This is NOT a first come, first served program. We recommend you do apply in Round 1, so just need to apply by Jan 8. Applications will open Dec 30 8am and end Jan 8 11:59pm. Approval notifications will begin January 13. Applicants who submitted their application and documentation in the first round, do not need to reapply for Round 2. Deadlines for the second round of applications have not yet been determined.

To apply:

Go to www.careliefgrant.com
Click on 'Find a Partner' - you can select by County or Language - you do NOT have to pay the partner you select or even work with them on the application, but you must go through one of the partners for the application
Once the Round 1 opens on Dec 30, the 'Application' button will be active

To help you know what to do to prepare to apply, SBDC is hosting daily webinars at 11am, Click Here to register. The webinar will include information on:

The Grant Program
Eligibility Requirements
What the funding can be used for
The Application
Required Documents
Who to Contact for Assistance

Webinars occur daily at 11am - the ones in multiple languages will be in translated throughout the webinar in the second language, so they will be longer than the English only webinar:

Dec 29 - English/Mandarin
Dec 30 - English/Tagalog
Dec 31 - English/Farsi
Jan 1 - English
Jan 2 - English/Vietnamese
Jan 3 - English/Korean
Jan 4 - English/Arabic

President Trump signs $900 Billion Stimulus Bill

This bill was passed late on December 21 and has now been signed by President Trump. The details on how all included in the bill will be administered haven't been released yet.

Here are some resources to learn about more about the Stimulus Bill:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce held a Small Business Update
Thank you Kyle Sexton Chamber Strategies for sharing this detailed analysis.

This legislation includes:

$284B for the Paycheck Protection Program, including dedicated funds for

very small businesses (<25 employees) and expanded eligibility for nonprofits

$20B for new Economic Injury Disaster Loan Grants (EIDL)
$15B in relief funding for live venues, movie theaters
$600 individual stimulus checks, including for dependents
Extends and modifies Employee Retention Tax Credit, replacing wages

for small business employees

Extends the New Market Tax Credit and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for 5 years
Modifies and extends existing credits for paid family leave

We will continue to keep you posted as we learn more details.

SBA Webinar on Stimulus Bill with Congressman Thompson

The Stimulus Bill included more than $300 billion for small businesses, including for the Paycheck Protection Program and other resources. Congressman Mike Thompson will be hosting a webinar on Tue, Jan 5 at 9am with representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA) where they will provide updates and answer questions about these resources.

The webinar has 500 slots, which will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you would like to participate, please email [email protected] with the following details: your name, the name of your business, the best email to reach you and your phone number.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Forgiveness & PPP 2

Thank you Paul Benton, Managing Director of The Light Digital for sharing this interview you conducted on December 23 on PPP forgiveness and more PPP money with a senior banker and a CPA: Click here to watch.