Commercial Integrator March 2021 - 14

SMB INSIGHT
Joe Biden's COVID-19 Relief Plan Includes More
Help for Small Businesses
Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan includes $15 billion in flexible grants for small businesses
and $35 billion in lending programs. by Zachary Comeau
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN unveiled his
$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, which
includes more help for struggling small
businesses.
Biden, who took office Jan. 20, proposed
the package as the number of COVID-19
cases and deaths continue to climb,
breaking previous records almost daily. The
package also comes as the U.S. continues
the early stages of a vaccine rollout that
Biden has pledged to accelerate once he
takes office.
Biden's program calls for an additional
$15 billion in grants for small businesses,
creating a new program separate from the
existing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
that Congress reinvigorated earlier this
month. Applications for new loans through
that program opened this week.
The PPP has been a popular program,
providing small businesses with forgivable
loans designed to keep employees on the
payroll and avoid layoffs or furloughs.
Many smaller AV integrators have said
they made use of the funds and said the
application process was nearly seamless.
The PPP has been a
popular program,
providing small
businesses with forgivable
loans designed to keep
employees on the payroll and
avoid layoffs or furloughs.
According to CNN's reporting, the plan
also calls for $35 billion in state, local,
tribal and non-profit financing programs
that make low-interest loans and provide
venture capital to entrepreneurs.
The pro AV industry has been hit hard
by the pandemic, and unfortunately some
companies have had to layoff employees.
However, Biden's proposed package
includes more relief for them, including an14
Commercial
Integrator MARCH 2021
Biden's program calls for an additional $15 billion in grants for small businesses,
creating a new program separate from the existing Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP) that Congress reinvigorated earlier this year.
other $1,400 in direct payments to most
Americans, boosting federal unemployment
insurance to $400 from $300,
providing $25 billion for rental assistance,
an expansion of the federal eviction moratorium
until the end of September, expansion
of child care and tax credits, subsidies
for health insurance premiums and other
measures.
The plan also calls for $20 billion for a
national vaccination program, including
setting up community vaccination center
around the country.
Biden also wants to invest $50 billion in
testing for schools and fund the hiring of
100,000 public health workers. A widely
available vaccine will help reduce the level
of infections and help the economy open
up again, which will be key for AV integrators
that depend on a healthy economy for
business.
These measures still have to be passed
by Congress, and Biden has said he wants
that to happen by the end of this month.
Look for the Legislature to act quickly on the
measures now that Biden is president.
While it's not strictly a business-related
policy, Biden has emphasized the importance
of eradicating COVID-19 from the
U.S. and the world and is planning to back
that stance up with financial and medical
resources aimed at helping small businesses
especially get back to work safely.
We'll see which countries Biden embraces
and which ones he decides to play tough
with and how those decisions affect the
prices and availability of AV gear - and the
ability of integrators to continue to spread
their businesses around the world.
What other policies on President-elect
Biden's platform are you monitoring
closely? Which ones do you think could
mean the difference between profitability
and a struggle to break even? And which
campaign promises do you think will never
make it beyond stump speeches into actual
legislation?
Small business owners will want to
keep a close eye on this new program and
others that may help them navigate what is
hopefully the final stretch of the COVID-19
pandemic.
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Commercial Integrator March 2021

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