While Congress works on adding another $250 billion to its $349 billion small business loan program, which could happen as early as this week, local resources for small businesses are growing.
NEW WEBSITE WITH HELP FOR BUSINESSES
A new website, Axis South Florida (AxisHelps.org), has brought together a list of community resources people can access, depending on their need.
This multi-lingual tool emerged from a collaboration between the local offices of Microsoft and the Citi financial institution. They collected information on the most important needs among residents of Miami-Dade and Broward, listening to organization that work closely with those already feeling the impact from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has a section for small business owners, which asks whether they need money to continue in business, to pay employees, to remain open or help employees in other ways. When small businesses click on the questions, they are transferred to pages that list the organizations offering the type of assistance they may need, as well as video tutorials on how to fill the applications.
Axis South Florida also partnerned with gener8tor, an educational and mentoring company, to offer virtual programs and video conferences for small businesses impacted by the Covid19 outbreak. Interested businesses must register to access the online offerings.
To access the Axis South Florida Web page, go to AxisHelps.org.
FACEBOOK OFFERS LOCAL GRANTS
We announced earlier that Facebook was offering $100 million in cash grants and ad credits to small businesses globally. As part of the program, Facebook will award $150,000 in grants to 38 Miami-area small businesses.
Who can apply? Small businesses with two to 50 employees that have been in business over a year and have experienced financial challenges due to the pandemic.
Go to Facebook.com/GrantsforBusiness to apply.
Businesses on Facebook can also now promote digital gift cards to drum up more revenue support from its followers. Another new feature allows them to announce temporary service changes on their pages.
MORE RESOURCES
BizHack Academy is keeping a running list of resources and offers for small businesses and digital marketers. For instance, Google is giving $340 million in Google Ads credits to all SMBs with active accounts over the past year. LinkedIn is offering 16 “LinkedIn Learning” courses for free, and Yelp created a $25 million relief fund to help local restaurants and bars by waiving advertising fees and offering free advertising, products and services. There are dozens more on the list. Access it here.
BizHack founder Dan Grech suggests asking your software providers if they have any COVID-19 related offers.
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