Two DeKalb business leaders are offering their help to fellow small business owners who are applying for the Paycheck Protection Program, an emergency loan administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to help small businesses retain employees and get through this period of economic uncertainty and severely limited operations.
Cohen Barnes, owner of Sundog IT and Brian Oster, owner of OC Creative, have both successfully applied for the Paycheck Protection Program and they are opening their doors for office hours, during which they will help small business owners with the online application process and scan paperwork which must accompany the application. Business owners should bring their most recent financial statements and payroll information and any other documents requested by their financial institution.
“It is in all of our best interests to help one another as much as we can right now,” Oster said. “Having been through this complicated application process, I am glad to share what I’ve learned with others who are in the same boat. We are all in this together.”
“It is gratifying to see so many in the community coming to the aid of their neighbors,” Barnes added. “The small business sector is in many ways the heart of the community. We need to do all we can to help these businesses weather this economic storm.”
Barnes and Oster and both members of DeKalb County UNITES (DKCU), a grassroots organization formed in early March to support the small business sector in the face of the pandemic. DKCU offers free webinars three times a week on topics of interest for small business owners, covering everything from how to access federal disaster relief funds to the most effective strategies for marketing through a crisis. DKCU is also working with large businesses and institutions in DeKalb County to encourage them to direct their purchasing power to the small business sector to provide much-needed support.
For more information about any of these programs, go to https://www.dekalbcountyunites.com/
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