McCrory, Hawkins, & Hill on “Dateline New Haven.”
Doug McCrory watched government money wash ashore to help businesses survive — and mostly flow away from minority-owned businesses in Connecticut’s cities.
So he, Howard K. Hill and Kim Hawkins decided to start a new stream of emergency dollars. They know more upstream swimming will be needed.
“The [federal Paycheck Protection Program] has been a disaster for small businesses, especially those of color,” McCrory, a state senator from Hartford and Bloomfield, said during an appearance Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
“Small businesses are on the verge of closing. We want to help them stay open.”
Yet when the state put its first short-term business relief money online, the window to apply closed within 48 hours because of the demand. Most minority-owned businesses hadn’t even applied, either because they hadn’t heard about it or because they couldn’t as quickly pull together the needed paperwork, McCrory observed.
So he worked with Hill and Hawkins to devise a special fund of forgivable lines of credit up to $20,000 for minority or female-owned businesses in Connecticut with 20 or fewer employees. The program is run through the Hartford Economic Development Corporation (HEDCO), where Hawkins works as vice-president and chief operating officer. The state ponied up an initial $2 million for the program.
The idea was to get the money out fast, with a lot fewer requirements than the larger state and federal stimulus programs that have been dominated by larger enterprises. This line of credit goes to “high risk” small businesses that have operated for at least six months. Applicants don’t need to go through a bank. (The PPP’s money went largely through banks, which prioritized customers with existing accounts.) The interest rate is 0 percent, and the debt is forgiven provided the recipients show they spent the money within three months.
Hill, a funeral home director and promoter of economic development efforts in the black community, helped them get the word out through webinars. Now between 400 and 500 applicants have put in requests. Others have up until April 30 to apply for this round. Click here for more information and to apply.
The first $2 million will certainly run out fast, so, McCrory said, he’s working to obtain more state funding.
Meanwhile, Hill said, other efforts are ongoing to help black-owned businesses in particular stay afloat. “This has been a race to the money,” and often minority-owned enterprises haven’t even had a chance to apply for most of it.
“It knocks you out of the race if you don’t have your business in order” with, for instance, up-to-date tax filings or financial records, Hill observed. He suggested this pandemic crisis might turn into an opportunity for “minority-owned businesses to look at building business infrastructure and capacity” in response to benefit them in the long haul.
Hill also called on not just the government or black-community boosters to help small businesses in the community. He called on philanthropists at large to contribute, and to seek “organizations run by people who look like the communities they’re trying to serve.”
He offered two examples: The Prosperity Foundation and the Black Business Alliance.
Click on the video for the full episode of WNHH FM’s “Datleine New Haven” with Kim Hawkins, Doug McCrory and Howard K. Hill.
Thank you for seeing a need that the State and Federal governments weren't addressing and stepping up to create a solution. Too many people who desperately need help for their small business, and too many dollars are going to big businesses that the funds were not intended for. Harvard? Shake Shak? You've got to be kidding me that they got the help that was intended for small family and individual businesses.