$25,000 small business grants & more!

April 2021

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

COVID-19 has impacted small businesses in unprecedented ways, yet they remain the backbone of our state’s economy. Small businesses shape the character of our neighborhoods, sustain the culture of our communities, and their diversity, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit are what create opportunities for Californians to thrive and achieve the American Dream.

• The California Office of the Small Business Advocate has announced a timeline to apply for funding to support small businesses and nonprofits affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Eligible applicants can apply for grants of up to $25,000 through May 4 by visiting: CA Relief Grant.
  • Lendistry is the company selected by California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) to administer the program. Please call 888-612-4370 or email careliefgrant@lendistry.com if you encounter challenges in the application process.
    • This program is intended to support small businesses and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19. It is not intended as a general support program for nonprofits or startups.
    • Applying for this grant is free. If you are asked to pay for anything, it is a scam.
    • Emails will come from Lendistry.com. Requests from any other email are a scam.
    • Do not interact with careliefgrants.org. This is a scam site. Only interact with com. (Notice the difference is the ‘s’ in the address and the .org suffix).
    • If you provided personal information to a fraudulent site, change your bank passwords and freeze your credit immediately.

• In addition, the Legislature passed AB 80, one of the largest tax cuts in state history. California businesses can now deduct billions of dollars in expenses that were funded by the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

• The County of Los Angeles, in partnership with LISC LA, will be disseminating financial relief through the “Keep Our Shops on the Block” grants for small brick-and-mortar businesses in the personal care and retail sectors. Eligible businesses can apply for the $10,000 grants through May 2 by visiting: LA RegionalCOVID Fund.

• Pre-registration for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund opens on April 30. Applications will be accepted beginning on May 3. Businesses owned and controlled by women, veterans, and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals are prioritized. Applicants with gross receipts less than $50,000, and as high as $1,500,000 may apply. Please visit the Restaurant Revitalization Award Portal.

• The California Rebuilding Fund is a loan program to support California’s small businesses—especially those located in economically disadvantaged and historically under-banked areas of the state.
  • Businesses who employed 50 or less full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) and had gross revenues of less than $2.5 million or below are eligible to apply. Please complete this Pre-Application Form to get started.
    • There are currently twelve Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that are participating in the California Rebuilding Fund to process loan applications.
    • CDFIs are mission-driven community lenders certified by the U.S. Treasury Department to serve small businesses who are typically unable to access credit from traditional banks. They provide small business owners with access to credit and advisory services to help them navigate uncertain economic times.

• LA County’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) offers one-on-one technical assistance and training to help businesses in Los Angeles County that are interested in local, state, and federal government contracting.
  • To schedule your free one-on-one counseling session, please sign up as a new client. Click here to see upcoming training opportunities. If you have any questions please email us at OSB@dcba.lacounty.gov. PTAC Counselors can help your business with most government contracting matters, including:
    • Becoming a registered vendor;
    • Getting certified;
    • Finding opportunities;
    • Target market analysis; and
    • Marketing to the government.

• LA County’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) has partnered with the Department of Workforce, Development, Aging, and Community Services, and other County and State agencies to offer resources for businesses as well as employees grappling with the COVID-19 downturn.
  • Multilingual counselors are available Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM to help business owners navigate emergency loan applications, help individuals laid off, and so forth. Please visit LA County Disaster Help Center or call (833) 238-4450.

• California’s Paid Sick Leave law covers all businesses with 25 employees or more, but tax credits are available to all businesses of any size that make it possible to recoup 100% of the costs of having an employee out sick from work for up to 2 weeks. Please visit Small Employers Tax Credits.
  • Paid sick days can be reimbursed in cases of employee illness, when employees have to care for a sick family member, and even when employees need time to get vaccinated and/or time to recover from the side-effects of vaccines.

As schools, businesses, and our state as a whole moves toward the June 15 reopening target date, vaccination and testing will play a critical role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. No one under the age of 16 has been vaccinated, and both asymptomatic and symptomatic transmission of COVID-19 are still possible, and infection can still mean hospitalization, and even death. Please click here to find a COVID-19 testing site. While appointments are recommended, they are not required.

I’ve added a vaccination site map to my webpage, https://a51.asmdc.org/covidvaccine, to help you make an appointment to receive your first and second vaccine doses. That said, if you need support scheduling your vaccination, please call 833-540-0473, 833-422-4255, 833-502-1245, or 213-328-3958.

Keep practicing social distancing, wearing a mask, washing your hands, and limiting gatherings with groups of people outside of your household.

Please email me or call my office, 213-483-5151, if you have questions or need any support.

In Service,

Wendy Carrillo
Assemblymember, 51st District