San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that small businesses in the city could apply for financial support as part of a $3.5 million loan program designed to assist establishments through the coronavirus pandemic.
The region’s Hardship and Emergency Loan Program expansion prioritizes private, for-profit low- to moderate-income small businesses. Breed revealed the project on Monday, which could be used for payroll or other company operating expenses while they slowly reopen to the public.
The new program would loans of up to $50,000 with zero interest to nearly 80 small businesses located across San Francisco. The financial assistance aims to provide enough support to survive the coronavirus pandemic.
Officials first created the loan project in April and have already supported at least 227 applicants. About 74% of the establishments were minority-owned small businesses, while women-owned 52%.
Breed said that they hoped the program would help local businesses recover from the COVID-19 crisis. The San Francisco mayor added they would provide economic stimulus, promote safe and efficient reopenings, and pursue economic justice, Siasat reported.
The coronavirus pandemic has severely affected small businesses in the region, with most choosing to close down permanently.
Since the program’s release, nearly $8.5 million of the total funding had already been given out to multiple establishments. Officials set the deadline for application for the loan on November 25. The loan could be paid back over a maximum of six years without needing any collateral.
A lottery system was chosen to decide which businesses would get their applications approved. Officials noted priority would be given to those with lower incomes. However, they did not specify the criteria for classifying which establishments would be considered low- to moderate-income businesses.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, San Francisco has given out over $21 million in grants and loans to at least 1,000 businesses in the region. However, many establishments have suffered too great despite the financial support and have opted to shut down.
The city has also implemented other assistance to help businesses owners recover, such as waiving fees for entertainment and nightlife venues, which have been closed for several months. Officials also allowed the waiving of fees for outdoor seating and parking spaces. Small businesses that wish to use the assistance are still required to file applications, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
It has only been six weeks since San Francisco has begun reopening restaurants amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, a spike of 250% in positive cases has forced city officials to shut down dining operations in the region starting on November 13. Establishments are urged to transition to outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery options for their services.
Officials have observed multiple warnings of a potential reimplementation of strict guidelines, including the suspension of dining room expansion planned for November 3 due to a sudden surge of COVID-19 infections.
Another sign was when California Governor Gavin Newsom announced during a press conference on Monday that they have seen an increase of positive cases for the last three weeks. The official added the positivity rate for tested individuals had also gone up. Newsom warned that some counties would be forced back to more restrictive protocols to control the spread.
Newsome said residents could see counties going back and forth between tier restrictions depending on the number of new cases. Some counties have already regressed after reporting a higher number of infections.
While San Francisco has remained at the yellow tier up until November 10, Breed announced on Tuesday that the uptick of coronavirus cases in the county could cause a rollback of certain business establishments and activities in the region. She said the actions would have to be implemented to drive back the spreading virus, the San Francisco Eater reported.
