Supporting Small Business Resiliency During COVID-19

10.22.2020 — LISC StoriesCommunity DevelopmentEconomic Development

We find ourselves in unprecedented times – a novel Coronavirus, historic uprising and a convergence of issues all in lead up to a presidential election. Yet despite the novelty the impacts are familiar—disparate outcomes across housing, employment, health and wealth all driven by an ongoing legacy of systemic disinvestment and racism. Hit particularly hard have been small businesses, the backbone of the United States economy, providing jobs and critical goods and services. The widespread practice of “social distancing” in response to the spread of COVID-19 is dramatically reducing the revenue of small businesses in every community. It is estimated that between the months of March and July 420,000 small businesses across the country filed for bankruptcy (equivalent to all of 2019).

As the pandemic wears on, America’s small business owners are reeling. According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, more than 90 percent of small businesses have been adversely impacted by the economic fallout of the crisis. And for businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color, which are historically underserved by financial institutions and, as a result, lack access to affordable financing, things are even harder. That’s why LISC’s Rapid Relief and Resiliency Fund grants, bolstered by a support from Verizon, Sam’s Club, and Lowes, target those small enterprises most at risk of falling through the cracks.

Through the Rapid Resiliency Fund, over 40 DC based small businesses received grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000. Below is a small sampling of local businesses who have recieved grants thus far.