As the year draws to a close, a call to extend a federal lifeline for small businesses | Opinion
Twice during the worst days of the pandemic, the future of my business was in jeopardy, writes Angela McIver. Twice it was spared thanks to a federal emergency loan program.
As the holiday season subsides, small businesses like mine are busy with year-end bookkeeping and planning for the year to come. As I look ahead, I am very worried about a looming storm that can be prevented with congressional action.
When the pandemic hit, my small business, Trapezium Math Club, an after-school math enrichment program located near the University of Pennsylvania, was forced to shift from entirely in-person to entirely remote. For a learning environment that prided itself on a technology-free, hands-on philosophy to make math fun for elementary school students, the pandemic was a shock that upended not only our academic structure but our business structure, too. Thankfully, we were able to turn a difficult time into an opportunity with the help of the community, lawmakers, and our extraordinary team.
A key to our survival was federal loan assistance. Twice during the worst days of the pandemic, our business was only a week away from laying off all our staff and shutting down. That would have been a disaster for parents, our staff, and the children we serve. I was losing sleep at night and began telling my staff that we would have to close down if we didn’t turn things around.
» READ MORE: Small businesses have until year’s end to get $100 billion in expiring SBA funds
A helping hand came right in time — both times. Each time, we received dire assistance from the Small Business Administration through the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The loan program saved my business and our much-needed enrichment program for children.
I’m pleased to report that we not only avoided shutting down because of these loans but also were able to expand our business, hire more staff, and provide more educational opportunities to students in 17 other states by taking advantage of new remote learning capabilities.
Unfortunately, the loan program is set to end on Dec. 31. Ending this lifeline would be a gut punch to small businesses.
» READ MORE: Small-business COVID-19 stimulus funds: What’s still available?
I’m not the only small business that was lifted by this critical program. As a member of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices community, I hear often from my peers their stories of surviving the economic turmoil of the pandemic. That survival often includes utilizing the loan program.
The pandemic isn’t over yet, and many small businesses are still struggling to make ends meet. That’s why I’m asking Congress to increase access to capital for small businesses and extend the loan program, allowing countless small-business owners to access billions of dollars in funding left in the program that could go unused without congressional action.
We hope lawmakers in Congress and the administration will act soon to ensure small businesses, which are the backbone of our communities, are able to succeed and make it through the pandemic.
Angela McIver, Ph.D., is the founder of Trapezium Math Club in Philadelphia and a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. She advocates for small businesses in her community and across the country through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices initiative.