SMALL BUSINESS RELATED ITEMS IN THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT
Wednesday, March 24th, 2021
Dear Chamber Members and Shawnee Businesses,

With spring now here in full force and more positive news coming every day, we still encourage you to take the COVID precautions needed to keep our community safe and to help us return back to normal.

Fortunately, we foresee only a few more distributions of this newsletter as we soon (hopefully) transition out of the turbulent era of COVID. As we receive major announcements or become aware of action from partners, we will continue to inform you of any details we receive. For additional ways you can engage with us please see our updates below and stay tuned for our Weekly Update emails.

Biden Signs American Rescue Plan Act COVID Relief Package
On March 11th, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) coronavirus relief package that includes many provisions to aid in the economic and community recovery from COVID. There are a number of enhanced programs and new benefits within the package, so we've compiled a list of the most important business-specific items:

  • The Paycheck Protection Program has been expanded to include new businesses and non-profit categories. The program has also received increased funding. However, the PPP will still close on March 31st. Find out more about PPP here.

  • Expansion and increased funding for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance program, where up to $10,000 cash grants are available for businesses and non-profits. Find out more about EIDL here.

  • The development of a new "community navigator grant program" that will help small businesses navigate and understand all the COVID relief assistance programs available to them.

  • The development of a new restaurant relief fund in the form of a Small Business Administration Grant. Specific funds will be set aside for small restaurants with less than $500,000 in operating revenue. This program has not opened for applications yet.

  • Additional funding for the Small Business Administration Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program. This program recently opened and is available to live venues, theatrical producers, performing arts organizations, movie theaters, and more. Find out more about the SVOG program here.


  • Increased credit for employer-paid leave up to $12,000 and extension until September 30th. The credit also includes employee time off to get the COVID-19 vaccine and to recover from vaccine side effects.

In addition to these business-specific provisions, the ARPA also included direct stimulus payments of up to $1,400, an expanded child tax credit, funding for stand and local governments, enhanced COVID-19 vaccination funding and efforts, and more.

COVID Rates Drop and Vaccines Rise

Vaccine rates throughout the KC metro have begun speeding up and vaccine appointments are becoming increasingly available. As of yesterday, 179,000+ vaccines have been administered in Johnson County with nearly 61,000 people having received both vaccine doses. This combined with slowing COVID positivity rates indicates an optimistic outlook for a return to normal soon. The Johnson County Government sends out a daily newsletter with the most up-to-date vaccine and COVID data. You can subscribe to that newsletter here.

Currently, KDHE's Phases 1 through 4 are all being vaccinated and appointments are regularly available at area pharmacies, vaccination events, and the JCDHE clinic. To find out more about the KDHE Phases and how to get a vaccine visit the Johnson County Government Vaccine hub.

Additionally, Mid-America Regional Council has a dashboard collecting data on vaccines and COVID rates for the entire Kansas City metro. You can view that dashboard here.
Be Well,

Ann Smith-Tate
President & CEO
Shawnee Chamber of Commerce
If you would not like to receive these COVID-19 updates, please reply to this email and let us know.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING DURING COVID-19
The Chamber has served Shawnee’s businesses for 75 years. If you would like to be a part of the work The Chamber is doing in our community, please email Brandon Wilcox or call 913-237-0693. We value the opportunity to represent and serve your business.
There are rapidly evolving developments regarding federal and state relief for businesses and individuals impacted by COVID-19. We encourage you to follow along on our social media and visit our Resource Center page to find relevant links.