Commerce Updates
April 24, 2020
Commerce convening industry stakeholder roundtables to develop reopening plans
Gov. Inslee today announced recommendations for planning a safe return to work on construction projects. The recommendations for safe construction standards were informed by workers, contractors, health and safety experts, and local government officials. The work of this Construction Roundtable will serve as a model for working with other industries and groups to safely get back to work in more sectors of the economy.
Commerce will be working with the Governor’s Office to convene those working groups of target industry stakeholders in the coming days and weeks. As noted today, we cannot say when more businesses will reopen because that will be driven by health data. The stakeholder working groups will develop plans to have procedures in place when the time is right to modify restrictions on each industry sector.
Funding for Working Washington Small Business grants doubles to $10 million
Thanks to an infusion from the state’s $200 million COVID-19 emergency response fund, more very small businesses – up to 10 employees – have a shot at getting a grant of up to $10,000 to help them deal with the impacts of coronavirus.
Breaking News: SBA Paycheck Protection Program resumes
New funding signed into law today allows the Small Business Administration to reopen applications for the Paycheck Protection Program offering forgivable loans to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. The program had run out of money last week.
Visit www.sba.gov to learn more.
Reminder that Washington state's Working Washington Small Business Assistance program is NOT accepting new applications. However, additional state funds announced this week will allow for more of the 25,000 applications already in the system to be funded.
Business Response Center fielding questions
The state’s Economic Resiliency Team has a Business Response Center that is helping businesses across the state understand financial resources and other assistance available at the state, local and federal levels. A team of 15 people made up of Commerce staff and volunteers from other state agencies help to provide this guidance. About 1,500 questions have been answered to date and the team answers a few hundred more each day.
If you have a question, first go to the FAQ page on coronavirus.wa.gov and see if an answer is available. If not, fill out this form and the team will get back to you as quickly as possible.
“Only Congress has the ability to provide the level of resources our states, communities and businesses will need…”
In a letter to Washington’s Congressional delegation this week, I thanked them for providing funding for small business assistance, but also impressed upon them the need for more, and more flexible, funding if we hope to minimize the economic toll of COVID-19 and mitigate the public health impacts such as food insecurity. My recommendations include looking at flexible block grants, reauthorizing the small business credit initiative, helping small manufacturers retool and retrain, commercial rent and mortgage assistance, and grants and loans to nonprofits.
More manufacturers stepping up, retooling to produce PPE
I spoke with KOMO-TV this week about some of local manufacturers who are retooling operations to make personal protective equipment (PPE) for essential workers throughout the state. More than 500 have volunteered to date.
Visit www.coronavirus.wa.gov often for the most current information and resources related to COVID-19 in Washington state.