Small Business Owners Miss Out On First Wave Of Federal Loans Despite Applying Early And Following Up
The House is expected to vote Thursday on a $484 billion dollar relief package the Senate passed Tuesday, much of which will go toward more loans for small businesses. The move comes after the first fund set up by Congress to help struggling businesses pay their employees — the Paycheck Protection Program — ran dry within its first two weeks, with many business owners across the country unable to get any of the funds. Among them is Nicola Williams, owner of Cambridge-based marketing firm The Williams Agency. She joined Jim Braude to discuss.
Eastern Bank CEO Bob Rivers: The Paycheck Protection Program Is Overlooking Minority-Owned Businesses
Eastern Bank CEO Bob Rivers co-wrote a Boston Globe op-ed Tuesday criticizing the federal economic stimulus package for small businesses for failing to help those businesses that most needed the help, thereby further entrenching racial economic inequalities.
“Since the availability of these limited monies was ‘first come, first served,’ it set up a ‘gold rush’ dynamic in which better resourced businesses that quickly submitted completed applications had the best chances of securing the funding,”
Rivers wrote with his co-authors Betty Francisco, Steve Grossman, and Segun Idowu. Jim Braude spoke with Rivers Wednesday.
Boston Conservatory Student Brings People Together While In Quarantine With Virtual Orchestra Performances
Shelbie Rassler, a composition student at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee College, went viral last month for her virtual orchestration of ‘What The World Needs Now.’ Now she’s back with a new composition in honor of Earth Day: ‘Happy Birthday World.’ She joined Jim Braude to discuss.
