SBA’s EIDL program is closed to new applicants. Here are other options for small-business owners (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — The Small Business Administration’s popular grant and loan programs for small businesses essentially closed their doors to new applications at the end of 2021 — leaving small-business owners with fewer options than ever for Covid-19 relief.
The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program closed to new applications Dec. 31. That means only those who had already received loans can request increases in their amounts — and only as long as the dwindling funding is available. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program is only making follow-up awards to businesses that had already received one, and the Paycheck Protection Program and Restaurant Revitalization Fund have long since closed their doors.
Efforts in Congress to pass more small business relief have been mired in delays.
But that doesn’t mean there is no help remaining for small businesses still struggling with fallout from the pandemic. There are grant and low-interest loans out there, though not of the same size and quantity as those provided by the SBA in 2020 and 2021.
We have compiled a list of grant and loan opportunities here.
- Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grants: Applications open on Jan. 3, 2022 for this grant program, which will award 10, $10,000 grants to asian and Pacific Islanders who are American citizens and own a restaurant or foodservice business. The program only accepts 5,000 applications total, and small businesses can click here for more information.
- The SoGal Foundation provides $10,000 and $5,000 cash grants on a rolling basis throughout the year to black women and nonbinary entrepreneurs and business owners with a scalable solution or idea and plan to seek investor financing in the future. Business owners can learn more about the grant program here.
- The Inclusive Backing grant program funded in part by American Express in partnership with Main Street America will offer $1.65 million across 250 grants of $5,000 each to small-business owners in older or historic commercial districts across the country. The priority will go to businesses disproportionally impacted by the pandemic. The grants will be made in four waves, the first of which has been completed, and the next of which will be announced in 2022. Find more information about the grant program here.
- The Southern Opportunity and Resilience Fund is a $53 million low-interest loan program build by nonprofits to make loans of up to $100,000 and provide free business support to small businesses and nonprofits across the South. So far, the program has distributed $11 million to nearly 250 small businesses, with 90% of the loans going to businesses with 10 or fewer full-time employees. Small businesses can get more information or apply here.
- America’s Seed Fund is a decades-long grant program powered by the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation grant program, open to early-stage companies that need to prove their technology and find their market potential, has made about 3,400 awards to startups and small businesses since 2012, with 153 exits by those companies and $9.1 billion in private investment. The grant program gives out roughly $200 million per year to eligible businesses. Click here to learn more.
- Comcast Rise: This program was created to help support minority-owned small businesses, not with cash grants, but with support services, including marketing consulting, media and creative production services including ads and media placement, as well as computer equipment, internet services and more for 12 months. Applications close January 15, 2022, and small businesses can apply here.
- GoFundMe’s Small Business Relief Fund Businesses can get up to $500 in matching funds if they start a GoFundMe fundraiser on the website. Click here to learn more.
- The Barstool Fund has raised more than $41 million so far from 231,000 people and had given 443 businesses support during the pandemic, providing a valuable lifeline to small-business owners across the country. Click here to learn more.
- Financial tools and marketplace Nav.com awards a small business grant every quarter of up to $10,000, with a $5,000 runner-up grant. Businesses must have a free account with Nav.com and must apply by Jan. 11, 2022 for the grant to be awarded March, 2022. Business owners can apply here.
Meanwhile, Experts say forgiveness on the Paycheck Protection Program will continue into early 2023 — and the appeals could ensure that the SBA is still deciding on individual PPP cases for years to come.
So far, more than 9 million small businesses have applied for forgiveness for their Paycheck Protection Program loans out of a total of 11.45 million loans across 2020 and 2021 as of Dec. 12, according to fresh data from the Small Business Administration.