Sponsor Statement
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE WHILE IN SESSION WHILE IN ANCHORAGE STATE CAPITOL 1500 W BENSON BLVD JUNEAU, AK 99801 ANCHORAGE, AK 99503 (907) 465-3704 (907) 269-0169 May 5, 2020 Mayor Ethan Berkowitz 632 W 6th Avenue Suite 840 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Dear Mayor Berkowitz, Thank you for your leadership during this challenging and unprecedented time. We appreciate your frequent briefings and inclusion of medical professionals, business leaders, and neighbors. We are writing today with deep concern regarding early distribution of the CARES Act funds that did not make it to many small businesses in Anchorage. As of April 16, over 5,000 Alaskan businesses have received emergency relief loan funds through the Federal CARES Act. However, during a recent discussion with Anchorage Community Land Trust (ACLT), we learned that a substantial number of businesses located in Anchorage’s economic opportunity zones have not been able to access those loans. According to a survey conducted by ACLT, many small businesses located in these economic opportunity zones are experiencing significant barriers in qualifying or applying for these federal loans. As the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans were specifically created to retain employees, small businesses with less than 50 employees that do not have sophisticated relationships with large financial institutions, a robust bookkeeping system, are seasonal, or are recent start-ups are left unable to access these loans. The net result of the above barriers means many small businesses located in Anchorage’s economic opportunity zones, specifically those that are minority and women-owned, are unable to access the financial resources needed to sustain their operations during the COVID-19 related mandatory closures.
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