$65 million in small business, nonprofit aid delayed

You likely won’t get any cash until January

Posted 12/18/20

By Seanna Adcox

Special to the Chronicle

South Carolina has postponed sending a promised $65 million to struggling small businesses and nonprofits.

Lawmakers approved the money 3 …

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$65 million in small business, nonprofit aid delayed

You likely won’t get any cash until January

Posted

By Seanna Adcox

Special to the Chronicle

South Carolina has postponed sending a promised $65 million to struggling small businesses and nonprofits.

Lawmakers approved the money 3 months ago.

You may have to wait an extra week or more to learn whether you won a small lifeline toward survival.

Even then you likely won’t get cash until January.

State officials blamed the volume of applications and required verification.

They say notices will start going out to applicants chosen and how much they’ll get, according to the state Department of Administration.

That’s weeks later than expected, which could seem like a lifetime for business owners unable to pay their bills, said Frank Knapp, president of the state’s Small Business Chamber of Commerce. 

“I’ve gotten calls and emails asking, ‘When’s it going to happen?’ They’re anxious out there,” he said.

“Waiting until January is just going to cause more small businesses to go out of business.”

Winners were supposed to be notified no later than Dec. 15.

A Nov. 4 news release announced that 11,217 had applied by the deadline and the money would be in hand by mid-December. 

Instead, the state DoA pushed back the timeline to meet a federal deadline by minutes.

The money was provided through a law Congress passed in March.

The law requires the money to be paid by Dec. 30 or it reverts to federal coffers.

The sheer volume of  applications delayed the process, state agency program director Brian Gaines said.

“We got way more applications than any of us anticipateded,” he told the Charleston Post and Courier

Legislators capped awards at $25,000 for businesses and $50,000 for nonprofits. 

More than 9,600 small businesses applied, collectively seeking $213.3 million.

Nearly 1,600 nonprofits applied, requesting a total of $76 million.

That means $224 million worth of requests had to be turned down.

Legislatively created panels were tasked with deciding who gets the aid and how much.

Their 1st meeting was Dec. 2, a month after the application deadline

“It sounds to me like it wasn’t a priority,” Knapp said. “Shame on them.”

SC Small Business Chamber CEO Frank Knapp can be reached at fknapp@scsbc.org

 

small, business, nonprofit, aid, chamber of commerce

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