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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/18/20 - Updates COVID-19 St. Lucie County Business AssistanceStephanie Bush From:Jennifer DuBey <jdubey@youredc.com> Sent:Saturday, April 18, 2020 7:59 AM To:Jennifer DuBey Subject:New Updates COVID-19 St. Lucie County Business Assistance SECURITY WARNING: This email originated from outside the County systems. Please show caution when clicking links or opening attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Questions, call Customer Service at 772-462-2146. Good Morning EDC Partners Yesterday the Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin shared the following information upon the closure of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP):  Loan Processing: the SBA processed more than 14 years’ worth of loans in less than 14 days  Businesses Served: 1.6 million  Number of States: businesses in all 50 states received loan assistance  Number of Lenders: 5,000  Lender Participation: 20% processed with <$1 billion in assets and 60% processed with <$10 billion or less  Lender Cap: no lender accounted for greater than 5% of the total program amount  Loan Amount Majority: 74% <$150,000 If you are a recipient of the Paycheck Protection Program, the SBA issued an Interim Final Rule for the program on April 15, 2020. Please click here to read the latest program guidelines: https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020- 04/PPP%20Interim%20Final%20Rule_0.pdf The US Chamber of Commerce launched the “Save Small Business” initiative, a nationwide grant fund to address small business immediate needs during this challenging time. Funded by corporate and philanthropic partners, small employers are eligible to apply for a $5,000 grant with the following criteria:  Employ between 3 and 20 people  Be located in an economically vulnerable community as identified in the Distressed Communities Index All St. Lucie County zip code areas are eligible with the exception of businesses located in 34987  Have been harmed financially by the COVID19 pandemic 1 For more information on the Save Small Business grant program, please visit https://savesmallbusiness.com/. The grant application will go live on Monday, August 20at noon. The Department of Economic Opportunity released March unemployment data today with th St. Lucie County ranked 10 in the state with a 5.3% unemployment rate. The release noted St. Lucie County’s March labor force at 147,705 with 7,874 residents unemployed as compared to February labor force with 5,505 residents unemployed at a 3.7% unemployment rate. UF/IFAS (University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) have deployed surveys to capture important information on the agricultural and marine industries occupying a large portion of Florida’s economy and to better understand how measures to mitigate the spread of COVID19 are impacting these industry sectors. If you are a business within the following five categories, please kindly take a few minutes to take this survey for important data collection during this crisis: The surveys can be accessed at these links:  Agriculture/Aquaculture Production, Processing, Transportation com/uflsurvey- agaquaculture  Commercial Fishing com/uflsurvey-commercialfishing  For-hire/Charter com/uflsurvey-charter  Seafood Wholesale Dealer com/uflsurvey-seafood  Marine Recreation Support com/uflsurvey-recreation For information at your fingertips regarding federal, state and local assistance, please visit our Business Assistance Web Portal at https://youredc.com/grow_your_business/wr for updated information on programs and services to assist your business and employees. If you have any questions or need any assistance for your business or employees, please do not hesitate to contact us. Jennifer DuBey, Business Manager Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County 500 NW California Blvd. ■ Bldg. F109 ■ Port St. Lucie, FL 34986 (Located at Indian River State College) O: 772.336.6256 ■ C: 772.812.0107 ■ jdubey@youredc.com www.youredc.com 2 Please Note: Florida has very broad public records laws. Most written communications to or from County officials regarding County business are public records available to the public and media upon request. It is the policy of St. Lucie County that all County records shall be open for personal inspection, examination and / or copying. Your e-mail communications will be subject to public disclosure unless an exemption applies to the communication. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and delete all materials from all computers. '. 3