Good afternoon,
The results are in on the first wave of the Delaware Relief Grant program.
As noted in the story below, within 36 hours, the Delaware Division of Small Business received more than 1,600 applications.
The portal for the program closed late last night with the second phase of applications expected to kick off by early next month.
The relief program struck the right chord in the business and nonprofit communities.
Many businesses and even nonprofits took on debt in struggling to stay alive after losing the bulk of their revenues during the early months of the pandemic.
The federal Paycheck Protection Program provided a lifeline but was loaded with issues. Most affected were many self-funded” businesses without relationships with banks and their loan officers who worked around the clock to process the initial deluge of loan-grants.
Some of these issues were worked out in the latter round of applications, but economic and racial inequalities were many. In addition, there were far too many cases of fraud.
Moreover, large organizations with other sources of capital put lawyers and accountants in sniffing out entirely legal but morally questionable loopholes.
For many of the most vulnerable businesses, the cavalry did not arrive in time.
It is far too early to assess the impact of the program. However, the sheer volume of applications is evidence of the need for initiatives that can provide relief and hope.
Enjoy your evening, even if grilling will be a little more difficult. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
