...Title
Small Business Assistance Related to Novel Coronavirus.
...Recommendations
To bring much-needed relief to small businesses in San José adversely impacted by COVID-19,
approve direction to the City Manager to:
1. Take the following actions:
a. Work with our Congressional delegation to urge the Trump Administration and the Small Business Administration to formally declare a disaster stemming from COVID-19 infections in Santa Clara County or geographic region that includes
Santa Clara County so that federal assistance may be directed here specifically;
b. Reach out to the Governor’s office to request priority for Santa Clara County over any state or federal assistance dollars, reflecting our heightened vulnerability;
c. Through the 2020-2021 Budget Process, set aside funding for our Office of Economic Development so they can build the capacity to:
i. Provide technical assistance to small businesses eligible for SBA loans;
ii. Become a singular resource for small businesses in need to learn about the various private and government relief programs available to them;
d. Reach out to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and corporate partners in San José such as Google, Cisco, Adobe, and Apple in attempt to create a relief fund to give grants assisting small businesses impacted by COVID-19 to cover employee wages, rent, and other fixed costs similar to the $5M fund Amazon has created for Seattle;
e. Reach out to the Silicon Valley Organization, other ethnic and minority chambers of commerce, and small business owners to create a Small Business Recovery Task Force to advise us on policy recommendations and assist with outreach to the business community;
f. Reassess the purpose of work2future to see what additional resources they may need to provide workforce training for an anticipated wave of newly unemployed workers due to COVID-19 under their current mandate or whether in light of
these new circumstances we must broaden their mission;
g. Partner with local business organizations on co-marketing for a Shop Local campaign and delivery options;
h. Reduce or waive fees for city parking meters and garages during the crisis; and
2. Explore the possibility of:
a. Deferring collection of business taxes until February 2021;
b. Deferring payment of utility bills;
c. Providing no-interest loans to qualified small businesses, to be paid back with federal assistance monies or private grants as these resources become available.
CEQA: Not a Project, PP17-004, Government Funding Mechanism or Fiscal Activity with no commitment to a specific project which may result in a potentially significant impact on the environment, and PP17-007, Preliminary direction to staff and eventual action requires approval from decision-making body. (Diep)
TO BE HEARD CONCURRENTLY WITH ITEM 8.2 PENDING ORDERS OF THE DAY