COVID 19 Resource Center

We are hosting various online webinars providing our SVO members access to business resources, as well as discuss upcoming policy changes that affect business operations. We have invited political and industry experts to lead our webinars to make you our members are up to speed with all of the legislative updates that relate to COVID-19. In case you miss one, you can watch our webinar recordings here!

Restaurant Revitalization Fund is an SBA grant program that will provide restaurants, bars, and other similar places of business that serve food or drink with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Recipients are NOT required to repay the funding as long as funds are used for eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.

At the end of 2020, Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a new law that provides for additional relief related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA, 2021), includes a second draw of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans (PPP Second Draw Loans) and updates to the original PPP loan. It also allows businesses to deduct ordinary and necessary expenses paid from the proceeds of PPP loans.

There's a new program coming soon, so please put this on your radar. The U.S. Small Business Administration is currently working on the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program. This new program was passed in the most recent stimulus bill, adding to the mix of business-relief programs designed to address economic losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. The bill sets aside $15 billion for the program and qualifying venues can get up to $10 million in grant money. They are NOT ACCEPTING applications yet, but you can begin evaluating the eligibility requirements and sign up for updates through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

November 30, 2020 Governor Newsom announced the following immediate support and relief: 1.) Tax Relief for Businesses Impacted by COVID-19 2.) $500 Million for New COVID Relief Grant for Small Business 3.) Increase Funding for the California Rebuilding Fund by $12.5 million.

Starting November 20, 2020 Governor Newsom launched the California Rebuilding Fund, which includes non-forgivable loans for micro-business owners backed by the iBank at 4.25%. The California Rebuilding Fund is a loan program to support California’s small businesses—especially those located in economically disadvantaged and historically under-banked areas of the state. Businesses who employed 50 or less full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) and had gross revenues of less than $2.5 million or below in 2019 are eligible to apply. Full eligibility requirements are included in the Business Requirements tab.

Today, October 5th, the County of Santa Clara Public Health Officer has issued a Revised Risk Reduction Order, which will go into effect when the County moves into the State’s Tier 3 (the Orange Tier). Under the Revised Risk Reduction Order, all businesses in the County will be allowed to operate so long as the State order allows them to operate, including indoor dining and indoor gatherings.

The 2020 pandemic has acted as a stark innovation accelerator, as companies had to scramble to adapt to remote work, and the challenges it brought into light.When CEO Satya Nadella presented Microsoft’s quarterly earnings to Wall Street at the end of April 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, he said he had witnessed “two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months: from remote teamwork and learning, to sales and customer service, to critical cloud infrastructure”.As a company headquartered in Milan, Italy—one of the areas that was first and worst affected by the Covid-19 outbreak—we realized early in the fight against the virus that it would change the way we work, learn and, unfortunately, interact and socialize, for good.Here are some of the innovation challenges we have worked with our clients to tackle, and the lessons we learned along the way.

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a new system to monitor the coronavirus in California, revamping the state’s watchlist for its 58 counties into color-coded levels that should simplify the process of reopening. This new system, also known as "CA's Blueprint for a Safer Economy" is the next evolution of the state's COVID-19 response. Every county is now assigned to a color tier based on its rate of new cases & positivity to determine which sectors can operate. Here on this new site you can type in your county and look up what activity is allowed. Under this new framework, hair salons, barbershops and indoor malls are allowed to operate indoors under the state's new system, but only at 25% capacity as of August 31. Please continue reading for more information...