The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) is a wide-ranging law that provides federal funding in areas ranging from child care to higher education to community service to relief for shuttered venues to a restaurant revitalization fund. Separate from those programs, one component of ARPA distribute … Read more

On May 6, 2020, the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management delivered a letter to counties with the amount of federal funds that will be distributed to each county from the “Coronavirus Relief Fund” (CRF) pursuant to the federal CARES Act. Guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury D … Read more

As of April 2020, the full economic impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are still unknown. Millions of Americans have filed for unemployment compensation, and non-essential businesses have been forced to close. In the process, small business owners have been left wondering how to meet debt a … Read more

The COVID-19 public health crisis is giving rise to an unprecedented economic crisis. Economic activity across the nation has slowed considerably, and many small businesses—which were operating successfully only one month ago—are now struggling to survive. As their bills pile up but no revenue comes … Read more

Economic activity can be disrupted by any number of unanticipated emergencies, ranging from natural disasters to virus outbreaks like COVID-19. When these events threaten the survival of small businesses, the owners may turn to government for assistance. One legal and effective way for a government … Read more

The main purpose of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) is to expand access to capital in low-wealth and underserved communities in order to foster economic development and revitalization. Many of these communities have been left out of the financial mainstream, unable to access fin … Read more