When the mandate came down saying all nonessential San Jose businesses would have to temporarily shutter their doors, the first wave of questions came into the City’s Office of Economic Development. People wanted to know: Is my business essential? Then, the next wave: What do I do if my business has to close?
Through April 7, all gyms, bars, clothing stores, salons, movie theaters and office buildings will be closed for business. Restaurants may remain open only for take-out or delivery orders. For local business owners, this could mean a loss of livelihood. But some government programs—and small businesses themselves—are trying creative ways to mitigate the effects.
The federal Small Business Administration is now offering loans up to $2 million to business owners and nonprofits affected by the coronavirus. The loans come with a relatively low interest rate — 3.75 percent — and a five-month grace period before the interest kicks in.
Jeff Ruster, head of small business and workforce programs in the citywide Office of Economic Development, said there are about 55,000 businesses in San Jose. As part of his office’s emergency response efforts, they set up a multilingual email hotline to provide answers and support to those businesses. In addition to loan support, the city is partnering with organizations that can provide technical support, helping businesses think about marketing and recovery strategies.
“We have folks here that are quickly responding to the requests that come in, and we’re doing our best,” Ruster said. “I think the key thing is we’re trying to advocate and communicate the resources and trying to create new complementary resources that fill in gaps as well.”
On a smaller scale, local business associations are doing their best to advocate for their members. The Alameda Business Association that serves the Rose Garden neighborhood is developing a directory of all the businesses that remain open during the “shelter in place” order, which they plan to distribute to community members through channels like NextDoor.
Jesus Flores, president of the Latino Business Council of Silicon Valley and the Alum Rock/Santa Clara Avenue Business Association, has been sending letters to local officials, urging them to provide as much support as possible to business owners.
Flores said officials also need to recognize the difference between a small business, which can employ more than 1,200 people, and micro-businesses, which employ fewer than six people. Flores estimated that there are about 5,000 micro-businesses in San Jose, and said they need a particularly robust aid package.
“The businesses that need our support are those local family-owned businesses that rely on that daily income to pay their mortgage or their rent, to pay for food, to pay for all of those expenses,” Flores said. He worries that the SBA loans won’t be processed in time to help out these smaller, more vulnerable businesses.
The “shelter in place” order “is three weeks right now, but if it extends more than a month, many businesses will not be able to recuperate,” Flores said. “They will just close their doors forever.”
One Willow Glen business was hit especially hard when schools began to close. My Green Lunch, which provides hot lunches to 25 schools and daycare centers throughout the South Bay, lost 90 percent of its business seemingly overnight. The company laid off 14 of its 20 employees, but rather than let its kitchen and delivery vans stay idle, it shifted gears. Now, My Green Lunch is in talks with Santa Clara County to provide free sealed, hot meals to residents. They plan to fund the service through community donations, raising $1,600 in the first 24 hours of their GoFundMe campaign.
“We’re trying to get our employees work while also providing help to the people around us,” said Bret Bigger, business development manager of My Green Lunch.
Bigger said the company’s ability to seal all of its meals is vital right now. The goal is to provide 60,000 meals over the course of the shutdown.
Resources
To apply for a Small Business Administration/COVID-19 loan, visit sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance.
To donate to My Green Lunch’s GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com/f/covid19-emergency-meal-relief.
Email the City’s Office of Economic Development at Covid19SJBusiness@sanjoseca.gov.
