Simple Steps for Supporting Economic Resiliency in Your Community

With the August 8 deadline for PPP applications quickly approaching, governments are seeking ways to stimulate economic recovery and support small businesses in their communities.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a loan established by the CARES Act that is designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. PPP loans are forgiven if all employee retention criteria are met and if the funds are used for eligible expenses.

Small businesses are under great duress and are seeking clear information on what PPP loans they are eligible for and how to access said loans. U.S. Digital Response (USDR) is placing pro-bono technologists to help government agencies at the state and local level respond to economic needs in their communities while also building tools and workflows to aid in economic resiliency.

Here are examples of how USDR has partnered with governments across the country:

• In Anchorage, we worked with the Mayor’s Innovation team to set up a local business alerts system through a text messaging service. This tool lets the city easily communicate with small business owners about benefits, resources, and opportunities for local businesses.
• With the federal loans extension ending on August 8th, we want to make sure as many small businesses as possible are able to access the funds intended for them. The State of New Jersey and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank worked with USDR to get state-specific small business loan and grant information out to their business communities through our Small Business Loan eligibility tool. This tool makes it fast and easy for small business owners to understand what support programs are available to them and to quickly take steps to apply for federal, state, and other loan programs. We can tailor this tool to include local loan and grant program information specific to any jurisdiction, as well as useful information regarading local reopening guidelines.
• U.S. Digital Response has collaborated with two states to build a COVID-19 grant tracking tool for CARES Act funds based on prior federal Recovery Act and DATA Act reporting requirements. This secure, open source platform is free and can be reused by multiple government agencies. Check out a quick demo here.

Government teams in need of assistance in any of these areas can share the details in this request form and a member of USDR’s team will follow up within 24 hours to help. Learn more at www.USDigitalResponse.org.