We are sending a letter to Washington
LULAC and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) are working together to save Latino owned businesses.
Join LULAC National President, Domingo García, in co-signing THIS LETTER so we can send it to Washington and show them how important Latino owned businesses are to our community, to the U.S. economy, and to the millions of people they employ.
The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Small Business Administration, facing an unprecedented economic disruption due to COVID-19, were authorized by the CARES ACT to provide $349 Billion in relief for Small Business as part of its Payment Protection Program (PPP). The PPP program is a forgivable loan that companies do not have to payback if they meet certain criteria.
The PPP program launched on April 3rd and by April 16th (13 Days) ran out of funds. A total of $342,277,999,103.00 was dispersed to 1,661,367 companies. What we have learned since is that 2% of the firms approved for loans accounted for almost 30% of the funding. That’s $104.7 Billion dollars for 33,200 businesses or an average of $3.15 million each.
Collectively, Latino-owned businesses that employ others generate $700 billion in revenue and employ over 3.2 million people, accounting for about 4% of U.S. business revenues and 5.5% of U.S. employment. These Latinos businesses are key drivers to the U.S. economy and provided essential services in many underserved communities. Think about the daycare centers, flower shop, construction company, favorite Latino restaurant, and bodegas in your predominately Latino community. Think about the small business that your parents, brother, cousin, or friend from school started and have worked so hard to make successful. Now think about those same businesses disappearing because of COVID-19 and the mismanagement of the SBA program and the large banks who administer it like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, and others.
So here is what we are asking U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Administrator Jovita Carranza. Our top three economic priorities that are crucial for Hispanic and Minority-owned small businesses and their economic success are the following:
- Prioritize economic relief resources for entrepreneurs who are waiting in line with completed loan applications. Many of our small business members have followed the instructions set forth by the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Small Business Administration to request economic relief resources and have not received updates on the status of their loans. Our small businesses are waiting for these funds that are needed immediately and every day counts.
- Prioritize economic relief resources for small businesses with (20) employees or less. True small businesses are being left behind in the rollout of the economic relief resources provided by the CARES Act and will not be able to pay their bills and operating costs. We are urging Congress to approve $400 billion more for this program, with not less than $200 billion going to firms that have 20 or fewer employees.
- Prohibit Discrimination Against Small Employers in the Paycheck Protection Program. To eliminate financial institution loan practices of big-customers-first and favored-customers-first in the PPP program, Congress should prohibit discrimination among applicants in the order or speed of processing or granting of loans.