• On March 16, 2020, seven Bay Area jurisdictions, including Santa Clara County, issued an order for all non-essential services to the public to close to help slow down the spread of the novel COVID-19 in our community. Click here to read the definition of Essential Businesses.

• On March 16, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Disaster Injury loan program in Santa Clara County became live and can provide businesses and non-profits with relief from COVID-19 impacts. The application portal is now open and can be found through the SBA COVID-19 webpage. The SBA Economic Injury Disaster loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million, which can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing.

• Interested business owners are encouraged to apply for an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan sooner rather than later as applications will be processed on a first-come-first-serve basis. The SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance is rapidly ramping up and will do their best to stay on top of the demand. In order to assist further, the City of Milpitas is offering you technical assistance on applying for this critical business loan. Please contact Elijah Mermin, Special Projects Associate at [email protected] if you need assistance with loan eligibility, purpose of funds, repayment plan, SBA supporting information required, etc.

• PayPal offers financing to small businesses via two programs, PayPal Business Loan and PayPal Working Capital. The PayPal Business Loan program offers loans from $5,000 to $500,000 and is best suited for businesses with at least 9 months in business and $42,000+ in annual revenue. A PayPal Business account is required to fund your loan. The PayPal Working Capital offers loans from $1,000 to $300,000 and is best suited for existing PayPal customers that have had a PayPal Business account for at least 90 days and have processed $15,000+ with PayPal within the last 12 months.

• Need more time to prepare your federal tax return? The IRS has enacted an extension of time to file your tax return. This page provides information on how to apply for an extension of time to file.

• The California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GoBiz) compiled additional resources and FAQs for businesses.

• The State of California’s Employment Development Department has programs to help both employers and employees deal with the costs of illness, caring for ill family members, shorter hours and closures. Employers can even request an extension on their payroll reports and payroll taxes. 

• The California Capital Access Program for Small Business (CalCAP SB or Program) encourages banks and other financial institutions to make loans to small businesses that have difficulty obtaining financing. CalCAP is a loan loss reserve program which may provide up to 100% coverage on losses as a result of certain loan defaults.