TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to work with Department of Economic Development to research, prepare, and propose an equitable and effective “COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Loan Plan” for key sectors that have been hit hardest by closures associated with the COVID-19 emergency including but not limited to: (i) restaurants, (ii) retail, (iii) services, (iv) non-profit, (v) property-based businesses, and (vi) other very small businesses that provide employment to Long Beach residents; and, propose funding levels that consider the number of Long Beach business licenses within each category, and the projected needs of those within those categories to rebound.
DISCUSSION
Closing the economy has caused great strain on local families. While the City has also suffered significant revenue losses many believe the fastest way for the City to rebound is to first invest funds available in the mom and pop businesses in Long Beach. Accelerating their recovery accelerates the recovery of the economy and thus restores revenue levels to provide critical services.
Many cities will receive regional, state and federal funding and use it to plug budget holes created. However, many believe that investing those funds in support for our small businesses will shore up city revenue faster thus stopping the structural deficit more quickly resulting in the least impact to services provided by the city and its employees.
City Revolving Loan Fund
The City of Long Beach has been operating a very successful Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) in partnership with the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for over 30 years. This program in our Economic Development Department and overseen by our City Economic Development Commission Loan Committee has provided hundreds of local businesses over $10 million since its inception and is needed more than ever to stabilize local small businesses and the jobs they support.
As part of the Economic Relief Package approved by the City Council on...
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