Coronavirus/COVID-19 Assistance for Bodyworkers: Practice Information and Financial Support

In an effort to support our community of students, graduates and other interested parties during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will have compiled the following list of resources.

If you know of financial or informational opportunities that might help strengthen our professional community, please inform us.

Reflexology/Massage Practice Information Related to COVID-19

ABMP has been offering really great resources and COVID-19 Updates. I applaud their efforts to keep themselves and their members informed and respect the science-based information they’ve gathered.

This is ABMPs Back to Practice Guidelines (written 4/24/20, added 5/29). I’ve included below several thoughtful quotes regarding reopening your bodywork practice (added 5/31):

“With the possibility of asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19, every choice we make in the foreseeable future has a real level of risk attached. Even with stringent sanitation protocols and enhanced client screening, there still exists a risk that you will get sick, or your client, or a family member, or more people down the line in your community at large.”

“We urge you to make government permission to work only one element of your decision about whether and when to reopen. If your state is allowing you to reopen, you must then examine all the variables and ask yourself these questions on a personal level: How has your community and state been affected? What is the level of testing in your community? Who is at home, and how vulnerable are they should they become infected? What is the physical and psychological cost of reopening your practice?”

“Of course, practitioners will make different decisions. While some will dive back in as soon as state permissions are in hand, others likely will pause until certain medical milestones are in place in their community. You will have to find your own comfort zones. Your clients will be making similar assessments, likely arriving at diverse conclusions. Your decisions may vary for different clients; ultimately, your safety—physical, mental, and financial—is your responsibility. No one can decide that for you.”

“For every member, I do emphasize the reality that while these may be ways to make your practice safer, there is no known way to eliminate the risk of transmission and infection. There simply is no risk-free environment in which to conduct business today.”

WA Gov Jay Inslee: COVID-19 Reopening Guidance for Businesses and Workers lists guidance for what is an “Essential Business” and details what happens in Phases 1 and 2 of the reopening of our business operations. (added 5/22)

WA Gov Jay Inslee: Safe Start Guide for Reopening lists Phase 1 vs 2 requirements for various professions (added 5/29)

WA Gov Jay Inslee: Safety requirements for those offering “personal services” lists requirements for reflexologists and massage therapists while working during Phase 2 (added 5/22)

Dept of Health (DOH): Workplace and employer coronavirus resources

CDC’s precautions for COVID-19 transmission gives guidelines for working safely with standard, contact, droplet and airborne virus transmission (added 5/29)

Washington State Massage Therapy Association’s COVID-19 guidance:

Guidelines on Returning to Practice (updated 4/27)
Guidance on Practice Guidelines (updated 5/6)
Guidance on Sanitation (updated 5/6)
Guidance on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (updated 4/29)

An informative, fact-based New York Times article: Coronavirus in America: The Years Ahead

How do I prepare to safely reopen my practice?
DOH guidelines for bodyworkers (updated 4/27)

When should I reopen my practice?
ABMP’s perspective on reopening a massage practice (added 5/11)

What should my client forms and waivers look like when I reopen my practice?
ABMP’s COVID-19-related “back-to-practice forms” (added 5/11)

Watch this video for insight on what leaders in the massage community think is next for bodyworkers, on the topics of reopening, safe cleaning, new documentation standards, knowledge of Covid symptoms, etc (added 5/12)
VIDEO

Do you need to revise your commercial lease due to COVID-19? Here is a Lease Amendment Toolkit from Communities Rise (added 5/29)

COVID-19 Financial Resources

Financial resources on this page are color-coded and include:

Expanded unemployment for self-employed, independent contractors and part-time workers (PUA)
Federal Loans & Grants (EIDL/PPP) (UPDATED 5/12)
State Loans & Grants (UPDATED 5/11)
Other Loans & Grants
Other Business Tools (UPDATED 5/22)

Unemployment Benefits for Self-Employed, Independent Contractors and Part-Time Workers (PUA)

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated unusual economic support assistance from the federal government. To encourage us to protect public health by closing our businesses, they have created and implemented the CARES Act. Now, workers who are either self-employed, are independent contractors or who work part-time have temporary access to unemployment benefits (look below for links to states outside of Washington).

Although the economic expansions are running through federal programs, they are administered individually through the states. Each state implements the policies through their own Unemployment Insurance program, so you will need to apply directly to your state to get PUA benefits. Each state had its own date of initiation (in Washington State it was April 18 at 6 pm and in Oregon it was the end of April).

The process is entirely new, not only for us but for our state government. When new technology is combined with increased demand you can expect to experience problems here and there including delays, getting booted off the site, or being asked questions you don’t understand or don’t know how to answer. You will probably get frustrated and stressed. Try to stay patient and persistent in the process.

Prepare your financials in advance (2019 taxes, quarterly earnings reports for the last year, Square income reports, etc). Plan 2-3 hours for the application process. As always with any computer work, “save early, save often“.

You must submit TWO applications: (1) regular unemployment and (2) disaster unemployment (PUA). Keep these items in mind while you’re working on your applications:

Save your work early and often
Choosing your occupation title: if you are a reflexologist with no additional certification or licensing, a good title might be “Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers, All Other” (29-9099.00)
All self-employed workers, independent contractors and part-time workers in WA must go through the initial unemployment application process and get denied
After you get denied, keep an eye out for another email in your EServices/SAW account – there you will get the link for PUA/expanded benefits
Line up your tax and supporting documents before going through the PUA application process – get them scanned into your computer or use electronic statements
Apply for PUA benefits at an off-time if necessary
If it doesn’t work the first time, try again

After you get PUA benefits approval:

You will receive lots of emails from eServices. When looking at them, be sure to look at the title of the email – some pertain to “UI”, some to “PUA”
Submit all your weekly updates right after getting PUA approval (extended benefits take effect as of March 29)
Submit a new claim each week going forward
Keep in mind that this is taxable income. so you’ll have to pay taxes on it either immediately or in your annual tax reporting (added 5/12)

Various states’ unemployment department links:

General info about eligibility for each state: Unemployment Benefits

Washington: Employment Security Dept/PUA

Oregon: Self-Employment Assistance

There is a govstatus.ego.com special page with more information
Oregon is still working on launching the system. They’ve hired a unique set of support staff for those seeking PUA benefits. They expect to begin accepting applications at the end of April.

Idaho:  Dept of Labor/COVID-19

Montana:  Dept of Labor & Industry Self-Employed, etc

South Dakota:  Dept of Labor & Regulations/CARES Act

Wisconsin:  Dept of Workforce Development

Arizona:  Dept of Economic Security

California:  Employment Development Dept
* here’s a news article from CA saying there will be a site launched to help people like us navigate through the process: KCRA-3

Federal Loans & Grants

Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Emergency Advance

Small Business Administration has a loan offer (that is essentially a grant, as it’s forgiven immediately) for small business owners who meet their eligibility parameters. They reopened this loan/grant opportunity on 6/15. (added 6/16)

The application process is simple, straight-forward and short. I strongly recommend that you investigate this avenue IMMEDIATELY if you are a small business owner. This offer will not last forever, nor will the emergency funds available to you.

Here is the link: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/economic-injury-disaster-loan-emergency-advance

The following is quoted directly from the SBA website:

Overview: In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000. This advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. Funds will be made available following a successful application. This loan advance will not have to be repaid.

Eligibility: The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan provides vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This program is for any small business with less than 500 employees (including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and self-employed persons), private non-profit organization or 501(c)(19) veterans organizations affected by COVID-19 (businesses in certain industries may have more than 500 employees if they meet the SBA’s size standards for those industries).

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance funds will be made available within days of a successful application, and this loan advance will not have to be repaid.

Application: Apply through the SBA website.

Paycheck Protection Program

As of mid-June, 2020 there are updated parameters to the PPP guidelines listed below. The updates make it easier for small business owners to meet eligibility requirements for loan forgiveness.

Primary changes (added 6/16):

the length of the PPP loan period for using your eligible expenses has increased from 8 weeks to 24 weeks (as of the first day you receive the loan from your bank)
for PPP loans issued prior to June 5 the loan maturity is 2 years; after June 5 it’s 5 years
the percentage of the loan you must use for payroll costs (to employees, not contracted workers) has been reduced from 75% to 60% (“at least 60% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll”)
they added a new exemption from the loan forgiveness reduction “for borrowers who have made a good-faith, written offer to rehire workers that was declined”

Quoted from SBA: “The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. Small Business Administration will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. The Paycheck Protection Program will be available through June 30, 2020.

This program is for any small business with fewer than 500 employees (including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and self-employed persons), private non-profit organization or 501(c)(19) veterans organizations affected by coronavirus/COVID-19. Businesses in certain industries may have more than 500 employees if they meet the SBA’s size standards for those industries. Small businesses in the hospitality and food industry with more than one location could also be eligible at the store and location level if the store employs less than 500 workers. This means each store location could be eligible.

“The loan will be fully forgiven if the funds are used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 60% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll). Loan payments will also be deferred for six months. No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.” (updated 6/16)

Which utilities are eligible for loan forgiveness? Typically “utilities” refers to electricity, water, gas, and sewage, but the PPP loan includes telephone, internet, and transportation costs (added 6/16):

Electricity
Water bill
Gas
Sewage
Telephone (cell phone and landline)
Internet bill
Transportation costs (no specific guidelines are given here, but traditional method is mileage times $.575 per mile for 2020)

Loan forgiveness parameters: “Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease. Loans issued prior to June 5 have a maturity of 2 years. Loans issued after June 5 have a maturity of 5 years. All loans have an interest rate of 1%.” In June they announced the “addition of a new exemption from the loan forgiveness reduction for borrowers who have made a good-faith, written offer to rehire workers that was declined.” (updated 6/16)

The first round of federal funding ran out on April 16. Another was passed on April 24. Two more rounds were implemented. (updated 6/16)

Apply asap with a bank with whom you already have a financial relationship – including Square. In general, it could be better for small businesses like ours to use smaller banks like local credit unions.

*** Keep in mind that you must keep meticulous records of the distribution of your loan funding. At least 60% must have been used for payroll (which includes yourself if you’re a sole proprietor) and the rest should be spent on qualifying business expenses for loan forgiveness to be considered. (added 5/12, updated 6/16))

*** Don’t forget that you must APPLY to your bank for loan forgiveness within 90 days after the eight-week loan term. Applications for forgiveness will not be accepted after that (added 5/12). Here’s an article by Bench on the application process for self-employed individuals. (added 6/16)

***Even if this loan isn’t forgiven, remember the rate of interest is only 1% and you have two years to pay it back! (added 5/31)

Here’s an article on PPP by Gusto:

“8 Common Questions about PPP Loan Forgiveness, Answered“

Here’s an article by Forbes on the impact of PPP/EIDL on PUA Unemployment Benefits (added 5/12):

“How to Choose between Unemployment and the Payment Protection Program”

Here’s an article by Bench on the interrelationship of PPP, EIDL and PUA (added 6/16):

“How the PPP, EIDL and PUA work together”

Here’s an article by Bench on June 4 on the changes to PPP loan parameters announced in early June (added 6/16):

“PPP Loan Forgiveness”

State Loans and Grants

No matter where you live, you can keep apprised of your own state governor’s or city mayor’s financial opportunities for small business owners by signing up for their emails. You’ll be automatically notified when announcements are made.

Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grants

Governor Jay Inslee announced on April 10 that there is a new financial assistance opportunity for small businesses:

“Governor Inslee is offering a new Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant program to assist small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Up to $5 million in funds are provided through the Governor’s Strategic Reserve Fund and administered by the State Department of Commerce. The grant program will provide a limited number of businesses in Washington’s 39 counties with a grant up to $10,000.”

To view/listen to his full speech, click here.

To go to the website with the grant application, click here.

The funds are LIMITED, so I urge you to go through this process RIGHT AWAY:

“Awards will be approved on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on the availability of funds. The objective is to support businesses through the crisis and enable them to retain as many employees as possible.”

ELIGIBILITY (copied directly from the website detailing the grant information):

Applicants should have been in business for at least one year.
Businesses with up to 10 full-time employees (FTEs) may apply for a one-time grant of up to $10,000.
Funding is not meant to help launch a business, but to support existing businesses who are specifically affected by the COVID-19 crisis and are vital members of their local community.
Applicants are eligible to receive one Working Washington Grant award during the current budget cycle, which ends on 06/30/2021.

TO APPLY (copied directly from the site):

To apply, download the application via the link below.
Complete as much of the information as you can.
Email the completed form to the appropriate economic development organization in your county (links on the right).

If you have a question about the grant program, please use the corresponding email for your county to submit it.

I recommend saving your completed application in your personal files in case you need to access it later for some reason.

Grants and other benefits through Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (updated 5/11)

Mayor Durkan offered a grant to small businesses in March. According to The Stranger, the money from her last grant went mostly to South Seattle, and to those businesses whose owners identify as a person of color.

On April 24 she announced another round of grants for small business owners in Seattle – this time $1.5 million will be designated for the purpose. However, Office of Economic Development (OED) is not accepting additional applications, since nearly 9,000 small businesses applied for the first round of funding ($2.5 million) and only 252 were awarded grants. OED will instead select awardees from the thousands of applicants that did not receive funding in the first round.

“The need goes far beyond what the City can provide without further support from the private sector, philanthropic partners, and economic relief from the federal government. Interested individuals and organizations can donate to OED’s Stabilization Fund by emailing covidpledge@seattle.gov.”

According to Mayor Durkan’s website, “There will be future rounds of the Stabilization Fund, however, applications are not currently open. We will notify previous applicants when new Stabilization Fund opportunities are available and will also publicize the new Stabilization Fund grants to the wider Seattle community.”

Added 5/11: According to a recent email I received, “OED and the Mayor’s Office have worked to implement a series of actions that support artists, nonprofits, small businesses, and workers, including:

Deferring utility payments for customers impacted by COVID-19;
Implementing a temporary moratorium on residential, small business, and nonprofit evictions to provide relief for working people financially impacted by Covid-19;
Creating temporary restaurant loading zones to facilitate curbside pickup at restaurants;
Announcing a small business relief package that included deferred business taxes and a $2.5M stabilization fund;
Creating a new Arts Recovery Package to provide immediate financial relief to artists and cultural organizations that have been impacted by Covid-19;
Providing 6,250 Seattle families and 1,800 workers with $800 in grocery vouchers;
Providing rent relief to tenants of City-owned facilities;
Opening emergency child care classrooms to help hundreds of kids of essential workers;
Partnering with United Way of King County and King County to invest $5 million in rental assistance to help families stay in their homes; and
Launching the #SupportPugetSoundSmallBiz map to help residents find small businesses open for takeout and delivery in their neighborhood.

In addition, OED has a comprehensive resource page for small businesses, nonprofits, and workers impacted by COVID-19. This page will be updated as more information becomes available.”

Grants for Greater Seattle Region, from Everett to Tacoma (added 5/11)

Visit Greater Seattle Partners. From their site, “GSP was founded as a public-private sector initiative to establish a leading regional economic development organization in the greater Seattle region. Formed under the leadership of Challenge Seattle, an alliance of CEOs from 17 of the region’s largest employers, GSP is the culmination of efforts to support broad-based economic growth throughout the region and establish a bold vision for greater Seattle’s future.”

An example of what this site offers is that it currently shows $500,000 worth of grants available for businesses operating in EVERETT.

Grants in Tacoma (added 5/11)

City of Tacoma has several grant offerings that were running prior to COVID-19 hitting. They are being paused at the moment, but it’s worth checking on occasion for an update.

I see on the site that Tacoma is offering tax relief for Tacoma businesses.

Grants Specific to YOUR City

Do a search on small business funding specific to your own city. For example Oregonians will be interested in the following:

Beaverton, OR is offering more than $1M in COVID-19 response financing.

Beaverton, OR is also offering grants for businesses affected by COVID-19.

Hillsboro (Oregon) Small Business Emergency Relief Program offers grants of $5,000 for businesses in Hillsboro, Oregon, to offset losses associated with the coronavirus.

Websites offering resources for small businesses and workers in Washington state

The Office of Economic Development (OED) provides FREE technical assistance to businesses to:

Understand available financial resources, including loans and grants.
Check eligibility for loans and other resources.
Apply for SBA loans and complete the application, including Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), SBA Express Bridge Loans, and SBA Debt Relief.

You can call the Seattle Office of Economic Development at 206-684-8090 from Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or email OED at oed@seattle.gov anytime to receive free assistance. You can ask for language assistance and receive interpretation over the phone.

COVID-19 resource list for impacted Washington businesses and workers (from governor Jay Inslee)

Washington State Paid Medical and Family Leave (especially useful if you’ve lost your job due to COVID-19)

Office of Economic Development’s resource list for businesses (from Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan)

Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

Small business guidance through Business.wa.gov (safety guidelines, funding opportunities and lots more information)

Funding through Chamber of Commerce

Save Small Business Initiative
Save Small Business Fund (no longer accepting applications)
Financial assistance resources for small businesses.
The Keep Workers Healthy & Safe Fund was established by the Chamber of Commerce (no longer accepting applications)

Other Loans, Grants & Resources

Grants from the Red Backpack Fund

Red Backpack Fund is a fund specifically for women who own small businesses. Their motto is “Empowered Women Empower Women”.

From their site: “The first round of applications were open from April 6 at 12pm ET through April 12 at 11:59pm ET. Final grant recipients will be notified by the week of May 11. Each month, we will accept additional applications. The portal will open for applications again on May 4, June 1, July 6, and August 3.”

Criteria are as follows:

You are at least 51% majority-women owned
You have withheld payroll taxes for at least one employee in addition to yourself (unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications from sole proprietors or individuals who exclusively employ contractors at this time)
You are registered in the U.S. and its territories as a legal entity and have a valid EIN number
You have fewer than 50 employees
Your annual revenues did not exceed $5M in any of the past three years
You are 18 years or older

Hello Alice Grants

Hello Alice is offering $10,000 grants, which are being distributed immediately to COVID-impacted small business owners. Be prepared for a long application process – I recommend saving a copy of each of your answers in a personal/separate document.

In addition, Hello Alice sponsors an annual grant contest for a $50,000 grant (called Business for All). This grant isn’t related to the pandemic and there are far fewer grant awards with the contest.

Hello Alice offers a list of financial resources for small businesses on their website and offers ongoing support to grant recipients.

Stacy’s Rise Project Grant

The Stacy’s Rise Project “supports female-founded businesses through funding, mentorship and community. Created to help bridge the funding gap for female founders, Stacy’s Rise Project has been connecting and empowering women business owners for years.” Applications for the 2020 Stacy’s Rise Project are now open.

To apply you must be/have:

A female-founded small business (in any industry).
Looking for funding relief.
Giving back to the community—through individual efforts, or through your company.
Available to participate in a virtual mentorship program from July to October 2020.
Applications open on May 4th, 2020 at 12pm CST and will remain open through June 1st, 2020 at 9am CST.

Grants from the DigitalUndivided

The Doonie Fund makes micro investments in Black women entrepreneurs.

From their site: “Named after digitalundivided’s CEO grandmother, Kathryn “Doonie” Hale, the fund has invested in over 211 entrepreneurs since its inception on April 5th, 2020. Looking for support?” Apply through the link above.

Entrepreneurs of Color Fund

JPMorgan Chase’s Entrepreneurs of Color Fund is providing necessary capital to fuel more than 300 U.S. black- and Latinx-owned businesses.

Global Giving Grants

Global Giving lists a variety of Grant Opportunities for small businesses and non-profits on their site.

CouponChief Resources & Tips

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that as of February 2021, 10 million Americans are unemployed. Indeed, the pandemic has taken its toll on businesses, causing millions of workers to be laid off. Losing your job is rough, but losing it during a pandemic is even tougher. There are a few steps to take that can help you through this difficult time. CouponChief’s Employment Resources and Money-Savings Tips for Workers Impacted by COVID-19 can help you get started. To learn more, visit CouponChief.

Grants through GrantSpace

GrantSpace offers an informational resource list for emergency financial to help with COVID-19 hardships, including those in the following categories:

Grants for Nonprofits
Grants for Individuals
Grants for Artists (all disciplines)
Grants for Small Businesses
International Aid

GrantStation Resource Listing

GrantStation keeps up to date a comprehensive list of organizations providing COVID-19 emergency assistance for nonprofits, individuals, and small businesses all over the globe.

Grants from Facebook

Facebook is offering a Small Business Grants Program. They are offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits.

From their site: “Up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in more than 30 countries where we operate will be able to receive the grant. To be eligible to apply, you must:

Be a for-profit company
Have between 2 and 50 employees
Have been in business for over a year
Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
Be in or near a location where Facebook operates”

Amazon Small Business Relief Fund

Taken from an Entrepreneur Magazine article: “Amazon: The Neighborhood Small Business Relief Fund will provide $5 million of cash grants intended for small businesses with fewer than 50 people or less than $7 million in revenue that need assistance during this difficult time. The fund is intended for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees or less than $7 million in annual revenue, physical presence within a few blocks of our Regrade and South Lake Union office buildings, that are open to the general public and reliant on foot-traffic for customers. The Amazon Relief Fund will be established with a $25 million initial contribution focused on supporting our independent delivery service partners and their drivers, Amazon Flex participants, and seasonal employees under financial distress during this challenging time.”

GoFundMe’s Small Business Relief Fund

GoFundMe is offering support for small businesses that have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

From their site: “sign up on GoFundMe to start a fundraiser to benefit their small business. Local community members are able to search small business relief fundraisers on GoFundMe to find favorite small businesses they’d like to support. If a small business raises $500 on their GoFundMe and meets eligibility criteria listed below, they may be considered to receive a $500 matching grant from the Small Business Relief Fund.

“To be eligible for a grant from the Small Business Relief Fund, the business needs to meet the following requirements: have been negatively impacted by a government mandate due to the COVID-19 pandemic; be independently owned and operated; not be nationally dominant in its field of operation; intend to use funds to either help (a) care for its employees/workers or (b) pay ongoing business expenses; raise at least $500 for the business through its own GoFundMe fundraiser, which fundraiser it started because of the COVID-19 pandemic; and have no fraud reports made against it.”

Grants from Salesforce Cares

Salesforce Cares is offering $10,000 grants to small businesses in Washington who earn between $250k and $2M. Applications will be accepted 4/27-5/5.

Eligibility:

Be a for-profit company
Have between 2 to 50 employees
Have been in business for 2 full years as of March 2020
Have an annual revenue between $250k and $2M
Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
Meet all other eligibility requirements as stated in the Grant Program Terms

Mailchimp Services

From Entrepreneur magazine article: “$10 million worth of service will be offered for existing customers who want to continue using Mailchimp’s platform but need some financial support during this period. As an additional response to the crisis, Mailchimp will invest up to $100M to help drive new and ongoing business for our small-business customers through price discounts, product upgrades, add-ons and more.”

JP Morgan Grants

JP Morgan Chase has made $50M investment to help address immediate and long-term impacts of COVID-19.

Grants from Verizon Small Business Recovery Fund

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) / Verizon Small Business Recovery Fund is offering grants of up to $10,000 to businesses facing immediate financial pressure because of COVID-19. Sign up to receive email reminders of next grant opportunities (next time to apply is May 14).

Zapier Grants

Zapier is offering grants to those who have been its customers since 3/20-2020.

Wefunder Loans

Wefunder’s Coronavirus Crisis Loans program enable small businesses to crowdfund loans of $20,000 to $1 million from supporters.

Kiva Loans

Kiva is offering loans to support small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Other Business Tools

Business Resiliency Toolkit

The Washington Small Business Development Center (WSBDC) Business Resiliency Toolkit is to be used in conjunction with the Washington SBDC Small Business Resiliency Guide:

·   Business Resiliency Guide

·   Business Resiliency Plan

·   Emergency Procedures

Learn more about Business Resiliency by visiting WSBDC.

Washington State Department of Commerce (added 5/22)

StartUp Washington offers a great summary of crisis planning tools and resources for businesses in the state, specifically pertaining to COVID-19. This page summarizes county, state and federal information / financial resources, small business tools, financial assistance, employment, insurance, health updates and additional resources.

Northwest Resources for Coronavirus/COVID-19 (added 5/11)

Business Impact Northwest is offering the following services:

Business Coaching Sessions for one-on-one help with emergency loan and grant applications
Webinars with information on all the resources available and what you need to access them
Live Online Question and Answer Sessions about COVID-19 resources
Bridge Loans, payment abatement and interest-only options for current lending clients
Paycheck Protection Program Loans, which are forgivable and open to all small businesses who qualify
Guidance on applying directly to the SBA for Economic Injury Disaster Loans
COVID-19 Information Library for Small Businesses

City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development

“The City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development is committed to responding to and supporting small businesses to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. As this is a rapidly developing issue, they will be holding weekly calls to share new developments, hear about the impacts you are experiencing, and answer your questions. Please join us every Wednesday. A recording and notes from this webinar will be posted to our Bottom Line blog https://bottomline.seattle.gov/“

Opportunity Fund

Opportunity Fund offers support for eligible small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, especially those run by women, people of color and immigrants. They also offer quite a few webinars educating small business owners about operating during this crisis, as well as sources for business loans.

Here is their lovely mission statement: “Our advocacy vision is to help create an inclusive world in which all entrepreneurs have the opportunity to make their dreams come true, and struggling communities become economically vibrant. To succeed, we need to change the broader systems impacting our work and the communities we serve.”

Finimpact (added 5/11)

Finimpact offers businesses guidance on financially navigating the Coronavirus. Here is an example of a recent article, which offers a range of tools (not just the 8 listed in the title):

Small Business Survival Guide (Including “Best 8 Financial Tools to Combat Coronavirus”)

Entrepreneur Article

This Entrepreneur article offers a listing of 55 Federal and State relief efforts to support entrepreneurs affected by COVID-19.

Global Entrepreneurship Network

Global Entrepreneurship Network is a hub for international support of entrepreneurs sorted by country and resource type. GEN is crowdsourcing best practices, resources, and opportunities to support entrepreneurs, organizations (ESOs), policymakers, and investors impacted by COVID-19 around the world. They offer a list of resources at the bottom of the page, which you can sort as you wish for the best information for you specifically.

From their site: “The Global Entrepreneurship Network operates a platform of projects and programs in 170 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create more jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. GEN’s extensive footprint of national operations and global verticals in policy, research and programs ensures members have uncommon access to the most relevant knowledge, networks, communities and programs relative to size of economy, maturity of ecosystem, language, culture, geography and more. GEN helps celebrate, understand, support and connect entrepreneurs and those who champion them.