We know times are tough for many of our business owners and entrepreneurs as COVID-related shutdowns caused you to close-down your shops and offices and as events and contracts are canceled across the board. The One Community team is working hard to help community business weather the crisis. Here’s how.

St. Pete-Based Micro-Grant Programs

One Community’s #InThisTogether Initiative is creating micro-grant programs that offer layered supports to business sectors hardest hit by COVID shutdowns: #PayItForward, for hair salons, barbers and nail shops, is a campaign providing them micro-grants and other supports, and calling on patrons to pay them in advance for services; #4StPeteCreatives will support entrepreneurs in the “creative” space with microgrants and covering their costs of evolving to a virtual business model; and #StrongerAfterTheStorm will support diverse businesses with microgrants and other supports.

One Community partners are also working to identify national and local micro-grants for our hometown businesses to pursue. See our Roster of COVID-Related Micro-Grant Programs or our summary list of COVID-related business loan programs.

Evaluating and Accessing Loan Programs

One Community’s dedicated resource for help evaluating or accessing loan programs is Tahisia Scantling, CEO of Crossroad Consulting. Tahisia has 20+ years of experience in small business lending, training and technical assistance. See her bio. Reach Tahisia by email to schedule a call or Zoom meeting. tahisia@crossroadconsulting.biz

Legal Help

The pandemic is causing new legal challenges for businesses, such as commercial tenant disputes, court proceedings on hold, domestic violence cases, contract and credit renegotiations, and canceled real estate deals. One Community’s dedicated resource for legal advice is Attorney Tamara Felton-Howard at Felton-Howard Law Reach Tamara at 727-202-8626 or tamara@feltonhowardlaw.com.

Business Tax & Finance Services

Receive free expert consulting from the Pinellas County Urban League to help COVID-impacted business owners to file taxes and set-up online financial management systems. Services include coaching, credit repair, financial statement development, business tax prep and help with lines-of-credit. Reach Lisa Kirkland at 727-327-2081×132 or lkirkland@pcul.org

Connecting COVID-19 Business Opportunities

The crisis has created new business opportunities that can be connected with community businesses to help them sustain during this precarious time. One Community is working to identify COVID-19 market opportunities for community businesses. Opportunities include cashier booth shield installs for contractors, sanitization of schools and other facilities for janitorial businesses, and a heightened need for digital marketing services as officials reach millions of Floridians with time-sensitive news. Reach Elizabeth Siplin at 855-736-7228 or esiplin@empactsolutions.info. 

Watch this space for updated resources as we create more avenues of help and partnership. #MovingForward as #OneCommunity.