The pandemic has not been kind for small businesses across North Texas.
But there is an opportunity for relief, thanks to a local non-profit.
Now through Friday, June 12, you can apply for up to $25,000 in forgivable loans provided by a consortium handled by the DEC Network, also known as Dallas Entrepreneur Center. Businesses must be based in the city of Dallas.
The DEC Network is partnering with the Communities Foundation of Texas and Liftfund for the program, called the Revive Dallas Small Business Relief Fund.
The $5 million relief loan fund is meant to support primarily minority and women-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 crisis. To date, more than $1 million has already been committed to the fund.
“We started seeing small businesses and entrepreneurs affected by COVID-19 that haven’t been able to get the resources they need to survive, such as funding, mentorship and access to a breadth of organizations across the region that can help,” said Trey Bowles, co-founder and executive chairman of the DEC Network. “We decided to focus the efforts of The DEC Network to provide these necessary resources in combination with funding to help businesses stay open or re-open as this crisis passes, with the business community taking care of its own.”
These loans, which are forgivable if certain milestones are met, are a means of filling the gap for small businesses and entrepreneurs who either have not been able to get relief through the Small Business Administration’s Disaster Relief Fund or Paycheck Protection Program or who did receive funds but they were not enough to sustain the business.
Key criteria necessary to obtain funding include (but are not limited to):
- Business must be in operation since August 2019
- Annual gross revenues must not exceed $1.5 million
- Businesses can have no more than 15 employees
- Businesses must be able to demonstrate a loss of at least 15% of revenue since March 1 due to the COVID-19 crisis
Visit ReviveDallasFund.com for more details and directions on how to apply.
