With the impact COVID-19 is having on our communities, it is important to stay informed about what resources are available for small businesses. Below we’ve compiled tools, loans and relief services available.

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Partnering with the Grand Rapids Chamber to deliver financial support to small businesses in Kent County

Kent County is launching the Kent County Small Business Recovery Program to deliver short-term, financial support to small businesses in Kent County with the purpose of supporting and cultivating a strong economic recovery. The Grand Rapids Chamber, in partnership with Kent County, will be managing the program. As part of this initiative, the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is proud to engage as a supporting partner.

The program will help businesses that have not been able to access, or have been declined local, state, or federal relief funds, gain access to additional support to weather the COVID-19 crisis. The program will focus on businesses that may be dealing with additional barriers including but not limited to language, general business knowledge, and those from underserved communities. Consistent with the limitations of the CARES Act, these businesses also must have been directly impacted and experienced a loss of income due to COVID-19.

We are thrilled to partner on this crucial work. The need for this additional funding is vast, and we are committed to supporting business in their time of need.

The first round of applications will open next Monday, June 22 to those that have not previously received COVID-19 related aid.

Additionally, the program eligibility requires applicants to be a private, for-profit business located and registered in Kent County with 0-25 full-time equivalent employees, to have been directly impacted and experienced a loss of income due to COVID-19, and have a business start date prior to February 15, 2020.

Learn more

With the global spread of COVID-19, organizations worldwide are addressing the changes required to ensure employee, customer, and visitor safety. As communities lift shelter-in-place restrictions, organizations re-open, and workflows resume it will be critical to prepare your environment to keep your team and community safe and healthy.

MacArthur’s Safe@Work™ series supports compliance to health authority guidance for workplace screening, cleaning, social distancing, and protective supplies to help prevent the spread of disease. Our products are designed for and tested in laboratory, manufacturing, warehousing and office environments. All products offer OSHA compliance and ANSI Z535.1 color standards for safety.

SafeStartKit – Industrial
SafeStartKit – Small Business
SafeStartKit – Boutique

V2Soft CompanyTRAK Mobile App
Contact Tracing and Social Distancing, the tools to get your employees back to work in a safe environment.

Solutions:

Contact Tracing
Social Distancing
Daily Health Check on Mobile App
Admin Portal for HR Admins of the company
View Brochure

Radiant offers automated social distancing and contact tracing solutions to help companies transition their employees back to work, safely, in the wake of COVID-19. We use modern IoT technologies to provide businesses with accountability solutions and insights into interaction history. Furthermore – and arguably even more important – Radiant’s solution helps companies make interaction data actionable. Built upon the Virtual Asset Tracker framework that Radiant currently offers for daily asset tracking, the solution for social distancing management and contact tracing integrates a wearable device to accomplish three things:

• Automated social distancing alerts (individual) and reporting (enterprise)
• Alerts detecting employee clustering
• Automated, anonymous contact tracing, allowing employers to see an interaction history between wearable devices

Read Article on Radiant RFID

COVID-19 has upended traditional business models, requiring lean personnel teams and efficient remote working conditions to navigate this crisis. Stress levels remain high as businesses begin navigating the complexities of a “new normal”

“Detroit Means Business” Program
We want to make you aware of the newly launched “Detroit Means Business” Program https://detroitmeansbusiness.org/.

This incredible program is being offered to small businesses like yours that are preparing to reopen under Phase 4 of the Governor’s Michigan Safe Start Plan.

Many of the program offerings are specifically for businesses under 50 employees in the city of Detroit who are often disconnected to traditional resources. This program offers a number of services and resources so small businesses can:

Safely open and operate with proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Ensure employees and customers are safe with vetted health, safety, and reopening guidelines
Have easy access to individuals ready to assist with reopening questions
Be aware of financial and technical assistance available to support capital and operational needs
We will prioritize free PPE distribution to small businesses with 2 to 50 employees. If you are in this category, you will be able to access a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Starter Kit which includes: 100 masks as well as 200 gloves and a gallon of hand sanitizer. The PPE Starter Kits are being generously donated by the DTE Energy Foundation.

In order to access your PPE Kit, you will need to go to https://detroitmeansbusiness.org and fill out the help form to request the Kit and schedule a pickup time at the designated Detroit location.

Detroit Means Business will also offer expert webinars for small business owners. Please visit https://detroitmeansbusiness.org/technical-assistance-webinars/ to register for the two webinars listed below, and continue to check back for more.