SOME RELIEF
Hard-hit small businesses start receiving financial help from Oklahoma City
The first grants from the Oklahoma City Small Business Continuity Program are being mailed to shops, salons, restaurants, cleaners and other businesses hit hard by the COVID- 1 9 pandemic, but dozens of applicants will be di sappointed with the need far outpacing available funding.
The assistance for small businesses was created by the Oklahoma City Council on March 31 with allocation of $5.5 million from an economic development fund approved by voters in 2017.
Cathy O'Connor, president of the Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City, reported 603 applications, asking for a total of $20 million, were submitted. About 100 applicants were disqualified for not being within city limits or not having been hit with a 50% business drop during the first month of the pandemic compared to the same period in 2019.
The first list released by the city reflects 39 businesses receiving grants that were capped at $10,000 each.
Steve Willing ham, coowner at Clarity Coffee, 431 W Main, received a grant for t he maximum $ 1 0, 000 on Wednesday.
“We were down about 50% from March 16 to March 31,” Willingham said. “We then shutdown for 35 days for safety's sake and we were then down 100%.”
Willing ham said the payment is a“huge” relief, covering a gap between when the pandemic began until assistance arrived from the federal Paycheck Protection Plan that keeps workers employed for up to three months.
During that gap, Willingham used his own money to continue paying employees while the shop was closed.
“This is being used as a reimbursement for the labor we paid for despite not having any sales,” Willingham said. “If we didn't get this $10,000, we still made the right decision. We're people first and taking care of our team was the first thing we needed to do. We were happy to do that.”
More payments will follow with 223 of the requests being for forgivable loans, 160 for low-interest loans, and six applying for technical assistance with online sales, accounting, human resources and other operations needed during the pandemic.
The technical assistance program is one that O'Connor believes might be considered as a tool for helping small businesses beyond the pandemic.
“What we've learned from all this is there are companies that need help with these topics and they don't have money to deal with it,” she said. “They need information on forming better banking relationships and on technology. If we can figure out a way to keep this going in the future, this is something we may build on.”
The Small Business Continuity Program is in the final stages of payments, but more assistance is ongoing to businesses with five or fewer employees in low- to moderate-income areas in designated Urban Renewal zones.
The Urban Renewal Authority Small Business Grant Program awards grants up to $10,000 and is funded through $400,000 al located by the Oklahoma City
Council from Community Development Block Grant funds.
“We kept the application process as simple as possible so small business owners can take advantage of this funding without a lengthy application process,” O'Connor said. “We know this has been a very difficult time, and we want to help them get back on a path to stability.”
The Urban Renewal grants can be used f or future payroll, rent or mortgage, utilities, business equipment, inventory, small business training, technical assistance and other necessary business expenses. Expenses paid or incurred prior to the award of the grant are not eligible.
The business owner must be owned by someone of l ow to moderate income or be located in a census tract where at least 51% of the residents are low to moderate income.
More details on the program, including an online application, can found at www.ocura-ok.org.
Holt said the fund used for the Small Business Continuity Program was created with general obligation limited tax bonds approved by voters and restricted to economic development. The $3 million incentive awaiting approval by the city council for Costco to open up a 1,044-job operations center is more typical of how the fund is used.
Willingham reopened Clarity Coffee on May 3 but business remains slow. He sees more difficult days ahead.
"I see a little more people out, but it's a different vibe ," he said. "From what I can see the businesses surrounding us are empty and most of the city employees seem to be working from home. There are empty offices and that is my lifeblood."
Holt, meanwhile, is looking at whether the city can reopen the Small Business Continuity Program with $114 million allocated to the city by Congress as part of the CARES Act pandemic relief package.
“It appears we can use some of our CARES funds to amplify this program,” Holt said. “Personally, I'd l i ke to see us add to the continuity program sooner rather than later.”