San Diego County remains in the Orange Tier, despite slightly elevated case rates. This is in part do to other indicators such as test positivity rate being very low, and vaccine continuing to quickly roll out throughout the county.
Small Business Tax Relief
On Thursday, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 80, which helps businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advance grants. The law is expected to cut $6.2 billion in taxes for small businesses that utilized these programs.
Businesses that received EIDL advance grants or that have their PPP loans forgiven will not have to pay taxes on that amount and can deduct qualifying expenses if they can show a 25% reduction in profits for at least one quarter, due to the pandemic.
Restaurant Revitalization Fund
Today, the long anticipated Restaurant Revitalization Fund - a part of the American Rescue Plan - opened for restaurants to register to begin an application. The Small Business Administration said that that the fund itself will open on Monday, May 3, at 9 a.m.
Businesses can use the award portal that opened today to begin the application process, calculate their eligible award amount, monitor application status, and ask program questions.
Changes to the Carlsbad Small Business Loan Program
On Tuesday, the Carlsbad City Council approved additional modifications to the city's small business loan program to provide greater relief to Carlsbad businesses
- Micro-loans ($5,000 - $10,000) terms were extended from a maximum of 18 months to a maximum of 30 months
- Small business recovery loans ($10,000 - $50,000) terms were extended from a maximum of 30 months to a maximum of 60 months
- Businesses still experiencing impacts due to the pandemic or corresponding operations restrictions can apply for a one-time additional deferment of repayments
- All loans are low-interest and have scaled rates depending on loan repayment schedule
These changes are designed to reduce the burden on businesses during the recovery phase of the pandemic.
California Small Business Relief Grant
The program provides grants between $5,000 and $25,000 and prioritizes small businesses in disadvantaged communities. Businesses that do not get funded in a particular round are automatically waitlisted for subsequent funding rounds. New applicants will need to apply through the program website. According to the state's grant website, it is estimated that there is approximately $729 million still available.
The sixth round is open until May 4. New and waitlisted applicants will be considered in this round.
Increase Your Business's Cyber-Awareness
The City of Carlsbad believes that now, more than ever, business resiliency is imperative. Coming out of the pandemic, businesses – especially small businesses – are in vulnerable positions and cannot afford another major impact on their operations. Over the last year, many companies have pivoted more of their operations online, from remote work and telecommuting to eCommerce and online marketing.
Cyber threats, including hacks, malware, ransomware, and other vulnerabilities, present a persistent and ongoing threat to these online operations. Nationally, cyber-attacks cost companies tens-of-billions of dollars each year. Many businesses look at a company’s cyber hygiene in determining their contractors, and many insurance companies look at cyber risk when determining rates.
As such, the City of Carlsbad is proud to announce a partnership with the Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) to assist Carlsbad businesses with becoming more cyber-aware. Carlsbad businesses will be able to gain a better understanding of the cyber threat landscape via a presentation from the FBI’s San Diego Cyber Task Force on May 18, at 10 a.m.
Becoming more cyber-aware means a more resilient business community, and more prosperous Carlsbad economy, which benefits us all.
