Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | March 30, 2020 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S. T H E C O R O N A V I R U S P A N D E M I C $367B federal loan program leads business relief efforts V E R BAT I M Construction continues "There's public construction that's going on that needs to be completed. Some of it has to do with upgrading existing infrastructure, but a lot of it has to do with expanding infrastructure that people have deemed critical and important." Gov. Charlie Baker, on drafting guidelines for construction projects, like the $132-million Polar Park baseball stadium in Worcester, to continue during the coronavirus pandemic Cupcake closure "We are staying hopeful and grateful and cannot wait for things to resume. I miss seeing all of my staff and customers already." Renee Diaz, owner of The Queen's Cups bakery in Worcester, who had to shut her dining room and lay off 80% of her staff in response to the social distancing effort to stop the spread of coronavirus Helping the crisis "We have received a tremendous response, with many offers of assistance. It's been very inspiring and encouraging to see the local business community rally together." Roy Nascimento, president and CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, on businesses who have donated medical supplies and manufacturers who are volunteering to make necessary goods to help fight the coronavirus pandemic E ver since mid-March when it became abundantly clear the efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus would result in significant losses for Central Massachusetts businesses and lead to widespread layoffs, governments and industry officials have offered up relief efforts large and small in order to mitigate the hit to the economy. e first significant effort came on Monday, March 16 when Gov. Charlie Baker announced the quasi-government agency Massachusetts Growth Capital Corp. would provide loans of up to $75,000 to small businesses. MGCC was given $10 million to provide for those efforts, and the agency had to close to application process aer three days, as it was overwhelmed with applications and it was clear the federal government would soon provide much more substantial relief. at has come in the form of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, a $2-trillion effort to prop up the economy for a few months while everyone adjusts to the new reality. Among the CARES Act provisions of direct payments to U.S. residents, expanding unemployment benefits and a bailout to airlines is a $367-billion small business relief effort designed to encourage companies with 500 or fewer employees to maintain their payrolls and avoid layoffs. According to the Senate version of the bill, this $367-billion effort is largely run through the U.S. Small Business Administration and local banks, providing loans of up to $10 million to small businesses to cover expenses like payrolls, healthcare costs, and pre-existing debt payments from March 1 to June 30. A portion of these loans are forgivable, too, if businesses meet certain conditions, most notably avoiding layoffs and keeping their payrolls roughly equal to what they were before the coronavirus pandemic hit. ese provisions of the CARES Act were in the bill which passed the U.S. Senate just before midnight on March 25. e measure had yet to be taken up by the House of Representatives as of press time for WBJ, but House leaders had indicated they would approve the effort before sending it off for President Donald Trump's signature. Other efforts While the federal stimulus pro- vides the most potential money to businesses in Central Massachusetts, other efforts have been made to help companies and nonprofits survive the pandemic's impact. e North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce is providing emergency loans of up to $20,000 for small businesses negatively impacted by the coronavirus. e City of Worcester is making available $10,000 grants to city busi- nesses, for up to $500,000 in total aid. On top of the CARES Act provi- sions, the SBA is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to Central Massachusetts small businesses suffering substantial eco- nomic injury due to the coronavirus. e Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce decided to extend its services to all businesses in the region, regardless of membership. Massachusetts announced tax relief efforts, postponing the collection of regular sales tax, meals tax, and room occupancy taxes due in March, April and May. Instead, they will be due on June 20. All penalties and interest that would otherwise apply will be waived. WBJ News Editor Grant Welker contributed to this report. BY BRAD KANE Worcester Business Journal Editor W PHOTO/MARTIN FALBISONER

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