Kansas City Agencies Partner to Prepare Minority-Owned Businesses to Apply for PPP Funds

WHAT IS AT STAKE FOR SMALL AND MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES?

Kansas City’s minority-owned businesses are critical to the economic vitality and growth of the KC region, and because of that, a group of area business development agencies have joined efforts to encourage/coach/advice regional minority-owned businesses to be prepared to submit Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications when the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) opened the next PPP application window on January 11. The agencies working on this special assistance are the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, Prospect Business Association, AltCap, LISC Greater Kansas City, The Porter House KC, KCSourceLink, Missouri Small Business Development Center, the EDC Loan Corporation, KC BizCare, and UMB.

With another crucial COVID-19 relief package signed into law just before the holidays, $284 billion in funding was made available for small businesses through PPP. Minority-owned businesses, which were largely excluded from the first round of funding, were given additional focus in the new round of PPP with specific funding being set aside for:

• Businesses with 10 or fewer employees;
• Businesses located in Low to Moderate Income (LMI) areas; and
• Mission lenders to increase their lending to hard-to-reach communities.

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES 

Minority-owned business also benefit from important rule changes to PPP that allow for:

• Easier loan forgiveness opportunities for smaller loans taken; and 
• Targeted business hit hardest by COVID-19 to apply for a second round of funding.
• Mission lenders to increase their lending to hard-to-reach communities.

HELP IS AVAILABLE FOR ACCESSING PPP FOR AREA MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES

The partnership outlined above encourages minority-owned business to begin preparing as soon as possible to apply for PPP. In preparation for applications, the partnership will also be launching a series of informational videos to help businesses navigate the PPP world, which include the following topics:

• What is PPP?
• Am I eligible?
• How do I find a lender?
• What to expect and is needed before going to a lender?
• What does loan forgiveness look like?

Minority-owned businesses preparing to apply for PPP are encouraged to reach out to any of the organizations in the partnership (contact information below) or to their accountants, bookkeepers, and/or lenders if they need any assistance. Minority-owned businesses can also visit the SBA’s PPP webpage here to for more information.

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About the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization that represents more than 2,000 businesses and their 300,000 employees across 13 counties in the Greater Kansas City region. Its mission is to provide leadership to help business grow and Kansas City prosper, making KC the best place to live, work, start a business, and grow a business.
https://www.kcchamber.com/

About the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City

The Civic Council of Greater Kansas City is a nonprofit organization composed of the leadership of the largest, private employers in the Kansas City area. Our vision is to achieve a dynamic, globally-competitive region that benefits all its citizens. The Civic Council exists to accelerate growth in the region’s prosperity and quality of life by strategically deploying the personal and corporate resources, influence, and expertise of our members.
https://www.kcciviccouncil.org/

About the Prospect Business Association

The Prospect Business Association (PBA) plays a pivotal role in building a healthy community in the Urban Core of Kansas City, Missouri. By developing and sustaining small businesses and micro-enterprises, PBA creates local employment opportunities, decrease the disproportionate health disparities gap, and assist in mitigating crime.
https://www.pbakc.org/

About AltCap

AltCap is a minority-controlled community development financial institution (CDFI) and SBA microloan intermediary (and PPP lender). Since 2005 AltCap’s mission has been to increase the flow of capital to communities and small businesses, in particular minority and women-owned, not adequately served by mainstream financial institutions. Its service area encompasses the Kansas City region with a specific focus on Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass counties in Missouri and Wyandotte, Johnson, and Leavenworth counties in Kansas. 
https://www.alt-cap.org/

About LISC Greater Kansas City

LISC Greater Kansas City coordinates and invests resources that grow community pride and revitalize neighborhoods into healthy, sustainable communities. It serves as an aggregator and investor of financial capital, and a convener and partnership builder. As a central intermediary, it channels resources and expertise to neighborhoods and coordinate multi-community efforts.
https://www.lisc.org/kansas-city/

About the Porter House KC

The Porter House KC is an inner city based co-working community who provides entrepreneurship access and resources to underserved populations in the Kansas City Metro area. Its mission is to be a bridge for underrepresented individuals that typically do not have access to the entrepreneurial dream.
https://www.theporterhousekc.com/

About KCSourceLink

KCSourceLink connects aspiring, emerging and established small businesses to a wide network of business-building resource organizations in the 18-county Kansas City region. KCSourceLink provides small businesses and entrepreneurs with free, easy access to the right resources at the right time.
https://www.kcsourcelink.com/

About the Missouri Small Business Development Center

The Missouri Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) are here to assist you during these unprecedented and difficult times. The SBDC offers personalized and extensive services from knowledgeable professionals to help businesses make confident decisions. Business counselors and coaches provide intensive one-on-one sessions by appointment or businesses can register for any Missouri SBDC live or on-demand training.
https://sbdc.umkc.edu/

About EDC Loan Corporation

EDC Loan Corporation (EDCLC) is a nonprofit corporation specializing in the origination and underwriting of Revolving Loan Funds. Its mission is to help small business grow and expand through our loan programs in an effort to attract, expand and retain jobs.
https://edckc.com/

About KC BizCare

KC BizCare is a free business resource, advocacy and information center for new and existing businesses operating within the City. Its office assists current and prospective entrepreneurs with starting or expanding a business by providing information and support for licenses and other requirements and refer customers to appropriate community partners, city departments, resources, and other services that propel clients to long-term success.
https://bizcare.kcmo.gov

About UMB

UMB Financial Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. UMB offers commercial banking, personal banking, institutional banking, investment banking, and healthcare services. UMB operates branches throughout Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arizona and Texas, and serves business and institutional clients nationwide. For more information, visit www.umb.com, UMB Blog, UMB Facebook and UMB LinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter at @UMBBank. For information about UMB’s operations, approach, and relief measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit: http://umb.com/COVID-19