 |
| Pixabay photo |
Urban News Staff Reports
In light of current coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC) network is revising its training and event schedules to help protect the health of its clients, attendees, consultants, partners, NJSBDC team members and communities.
The 12 centers are located at nine higher education host institutions including Rutgers University (Newark Center, New Brunswick Center, Camden Center, and Northwest Jersey Center). The regional SBDCs and Headquarters Office at Rutgers Business School are following NJSBDC’s network’s host colleges/universities policies during this time.
Business owners can contact the near regional NJSBDC or visit www.NJSBDC.com to review any updates concerning regional SBDCs’ training session/event schedules, program changes or cancellations. In-person training sessions may convert to online training webinars or they may be rescheduled or cancelled based on the health and public safety situation. The network will be adapting to the overall situation as conditions emerge.
The NJSBDC program wants to share important information concerning how the Coronavirus could impact your business staff and bottom-line as well as help you prepare. According to the Centers for Disease Control, policies for prevention of a further health and public safety dilemma include:
1. Actively encouraging sick employees to stay home;
2. Maximizing hand hygiene by employees;
3. Performing routine environmental cleaning;
4. Advising employees to take certain preventative steps before traveling.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Offer Disaster Assistance in Response to Coronavirus
According to a March 13, 2020, U.S. Small Business Administration communication, the SBA will offer designated states and territories low-interest loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury resulting from the Coronavirus (COVID-19). These actions are expected to “help alleviate economic injury” in response to the emergent public and health safety challenges. As a major resource provider of SBA, the SBDCs nationally will be there to assist small business owners.
SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in financing per small business to help them overcome the temporary loss of revenue they may be experiencing. The loans can be utilized for fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that cannot be paid due to the disaster’s impact. The interest rate for small businesses (which have no credit available elsewhere) is 3.75%. The loans can be paid back on a long-term basis (up to a maximum of 30 years) determined on a case-by-case basis.