The city of Detroit is teaming up with investment banking giant Goldman Sachs to provide up to $15 million in loans to Detroit small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Solomon is the Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. He says small businesses have perhaps never been at more risk.
“The crisis has served in our minds to underscore just how important small businesses are to the economy....both on a local and national level,” said Solomon.
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion bill that aids employers and hospitals under stress from the coronavirus pandemic. The bill is the latest effort by the federal government to help keep afloat businesses that have had to close or dramatically alter their operations as states work to slow the spread of the virus. Anchoring this bill is the Trump administration's $250 billion request to replenish a fund to help small- and medium-size businesses with payroll, rent and other expenses.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says previous efforts to help small businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic have failed to reach many in his city.
“I don’t know how many complaints I’ve heard, particularly from Black owned businesses in Detroit in the last two or three weeks, that somehow they were left out of the line with their local bank on the Paycheck Protection Program loans,” said Duggan.
These loans, made through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), are an option for small businesses and non-profits that have been unable to submit a PPP application through another lending institution.
The loans are forgivable.
CRF will offer these loans directly to small business owners in Detroit, who will be eligible for these loans to be partially or wholly forgiven if they maintain or rehire their workforce. The loans can be used for:
- Payroll costs
- Interest on mortgages
- Rent
The effort announced Friday between the city of Detroit and Goldman Sachs is in partnership with Community Reinvestment Fund.
