The federal government has announced $38 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act Recovery Assistance (CARES) grants to provide gap financing for small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Southern California affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The CARES Act investments, in the form of Revolving Loan Funds or RLFs, “will provide small businesses across Southern California with the necessary capital to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic and, in turn, create a stronger and more resilient state economy for the future,’’ U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said.
The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration awarded grants in the Southland to:
—The Los Angeles County Development Authority, which received $11 million to capitalize and administer an RLF that will extend credit to small, diverse businesses in the region and augment business recovery assistance programs currently underway to avert job losses and closure;
—Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Corp. in Los Angeles received $4 million to provide loans to businesses in about three dozen cities in Los Angeles County to respond to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The cities include: Alhambra, Artesia, Bell, Bellflower, Bell Gardens, Carson, Commerce, Compton, Cudahy, Culver City, Downey, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Santa Monica, Lakewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Manhattan Beach, Maywood, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Paramount, Pico Rivera, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Santa Monica, Signal Hill, South Gate, Torrance and Vernon;
—PACE Finance Corp., Los Angeles, received $3.6 million to provide loans to coronavirus-impacted businesses in the cities of Baldwin Park, Bell Carson, Boyle Heights, Commerce, Compton, Culver City, Diamond Bar, Duarte, East Los Angeles, El Monte, South El Monte, Gardena, Hawthorne, Highland Park, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lincoln Heights, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Maywood, Monrovia, Pomona, Rosemead, San Dimas, Southgate, West Covina and Alhambra;
—The city of Long Beach received $2.7 million to provide equitable and affordable loans for local small businesses to transition, rebuild and reopen; and
—The city of Los Angeles received $2.6 million to capitalize and administer an RLF that will provide loans to local coronavirus impacted-businesses.
The CARES Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump, provided EDA with $1.5 billion for economic development assistance programs to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to the pandemic.
