As 2020 winds to a close, all eyes are on the federal government and negotiations over additional relief for new and small businesses.

The urgency cannot be overstated; health experts anticipate the pandemic will get worse before it gets better, and forecasts for small businesses are equally bleak. With Congress reconsidering relief packages, tax professionals quoted in a recent CNBC article say a second round of PPP funding won’t be enough to help many small businesses survive the winter.

With the end-of-year clock ticking, members of the Start Us Up coalition have again emerged as leading voices, advocating for new and small business owners.

The numbers are dire. Congress must act now to save small businesses.
Rhett Buttle, founder of Public Private Strategies, co-authored an op-ed in the Washington Post responding to November’s “grim” jobs report and recent survey data that speaks to the aforementioned urgency. Among the findings: 10% of business expect to close in the next six months, with entrepreneurs of color struggling the most. As Buttle and his co-authors write, “Congress has a moral responsibility to throw a lifeline to these businesses that constitute the economic livelihood of nearly half of all Americans.”

RESOURCE: Business Owners of Color & Covid-19 Survey

Coalition Of Leading Business And Policy Groups Call On Congress To Enact Immediate Small Business Relief
Several members of the coalition — including Angel Capital Association, Center for American Entrepreneurship, Economic Innovation Group, Engine, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Small Business for America’s Future, and Small Business Majority — jointly released a letter Monday urging immediate action from Congress. The letter stresses that “renewing PPP should be the immediate priority, [but] it is important to underscore that the program was originally intended to be a short-term solution, not an ongoing source of relief throughout an extended crisis. Looking beyond the lame duck session, small businesses will also need additional loans or other direct assistance to help them transition from crisis to recovery in the year ahead.”

As COVID-19 cases surge in most states, the economic fallout is deepening for businesses
Economic Innovation Group recently published data showing declining retail activity this winter. Using mobility data to compare state-by-state activity, the data shows alignment between uncontrolled spikes and declining retail and recreation activity, suggesting that “without getting the virus under control … economic pain is unavoidable and potentially devastating. More federal assistance is urgently needed to bridge the gap and prevent a double-dip recession before a vaccine can bring the virus to heel.”