AGENDA DATE: 4/15/2020
TITLE: Business Recovery Fund to Assist Businesses Impacted by COVID-19
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Staff is seeking the Board's appropriation of $200,000 to fund the Business Recovery Fund for a Small Business Microloan program
ITEM TYPE: Regular Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Kamptner, DeLoria, Johnson
PRESENTER (S): Doug Walker, Roger Johnson
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: The strategic plan for economic development, Project ENABLE, was approved by the Board of Supervisors on December 5, 2018. During its development, staff engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders in the community to assess existing economic development programs and identify partnerships that would be critical to advancing its mission. This approach ensured the County's economic development goals would be complementary and not duplicative of the community's ongoing efforts.
As a result, Project ENABLE strategically focuses on businesses that earn more than half of their revenues from outside the region (called "primary businesses"), while relying on its partners at the local, regional, and statewide level, to serve consumptive businesses. The Economic Development Office (EDO) works with several different local partners to support the County's consumptive businesses including the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center and the Community Investment Collaborative (CIC).
Nevertheless, the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are being felt across the world and it requires broad consideration of all businesses within our community. The uncertainty created by the evolving nature of the public health response and the unknown duration of the public health crisis has led many businesses to significantly reduce or indefinitely suspend operations, as well as furlough or lay-off employees. The response from the County and its economic development partners will play a critical role in how businesse...
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