Resources for Your Business During COVID-19

Local communities and small businesses have been impacted by the spread of COVID-19. As a nonprofit that supports small businesses, Accessity wants to provide you with helpful information and resources as the safety and health of our staff, clients and community is the highest priority.

NOTE: This list is being updated as new resources become available. Last updated: December 09, 2021

Accessity’s Office – serving Southern California

Accessity staff team will continue services to support small businesses and are doing so virtually. All contact information and numbers remain the same.

Accessity Contacts

Reopening Resources

Local Electric Companies

SDG&E and SoCal Edison are temporarily suspending service disconnections and waiving late payment fees for business customers whose finances have been hit hard by the coronavirus.

County Resources in Our Service Area

Statewide

These counties in our service area have pages dedicated to COVID-19 and have the latest governmental updates:

Recursos para pequeñas empresas en español:

City Resources

Local Business Resources For Counseling/Advice

Free one-on-one business counseling on general business topics is available by phone or video through our partners

Our Accessity team can also help to coordinate an appointment on your behalf. Please email Etla Moreno (emoreno@accessity.org) for more information.

  • INC has compiled an extensive list of free tools, resources, and financial help for business owners hit by Covid-19.
  • Chairmen’s RoundTable is a group of highly accomplished executives who devote their time to helping select San Diego companies navigate their business challenges. Chairmen’s Roundtable is tackling the crisis by working with businesses on crisis management/turnaround, business pivoting to new ways of doing similar work and business transformation, which is making new products.

Organizations with Grants/Loans for Small Businesses

  • SBA Emergency Funds – Disaster Loans Program
  • KIVA Crowd Lending
  • CDC Small Business Finance – Top Tips For Businesses Impacted by COVID-19 guide (being updated)
  • Save Small Business Fund – U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation – in partnership with Vistaprint and a coalition of supporting companies, foundations, and philanthropic donors – is working to provide financial relief through the Save Small Business Fund. The Fund is providing $5,000 in short-term relief to employers across the United States, including chambers of commerce. These one-time supplemental cash grants are for businesses that have between three and 20 employees and operate in an economically vulnerable community (bottom 80% of zip codes in the country).
  • The Red Backpack Fund -The Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation donated $5 million to support female entrepreneurs in the wake of COVID-19 and teamed up with GlobalGiving to establish The Red Backpack Fund. GlobalGiving will be overseeing the fund, making 1,000 grants of $5,000 each to female entrepreneurs in the U.S. to help alleviate the immediate needs and support the long-term recovery of those impacted by this crisis.
  • Smart Relief Loan Program: Cathay Bank has launched the Smart Relief Loan Program to help small business owners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which offers low interest rate short-term business loans ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. Learn about Smart Relief Loan eligibility.
  • Qualcomm launches Small Business Accelerator Program – Qualcomm Technologies Inc. unveiled the Qualcomm Small Business Accelerator Program, designed to help small businesses convert to a mobile-first work environment necessary to thrive in today’s business climate. Approximately 25 small businesses will be selected and each will receive a selection of products and technical support valued at up to $25,000. To apply for the Qualcomm Small Business Accelerator Program and view its T&Cs, applications should be submitted here.

Local Grant Programs, text provided from the SBDC

County of San Diego Small Business Stimulus Grant
● sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/stimulusgrant.html
● Open now until funds are exhausted
● Twenty (20) or fewer employees, including sole proprietorships and
independent contractors
● Headquartered, based, and operating in San Diego County, providing local
goods and services to the community
● Minimum one-year operating history as of February 14, 2020
● Experienced financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These
impacts must be documented, quantifiable, and clearly driven by COVID-19
● Complied with all state and local public health guidance

The SBDC Business Advisors can help you apply! Request your free help! https://sdsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/signup

Legal Support

  • California Small Enterprise Task Force – The California Small Enterprise Task Force (CASE Force) is a consortium of legal, financial, and nonprofit professionals working together to connect California small businesses with the resources they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force is focused on collecting local, state, federal, and private/nonprofit resources for California small businesses impacted by COVID-19 and disseminating this information in a digestible way as quickly as possible. In addition, the task force provides small businesses with weekly access to live support from lawyers and financial professionals via virtual office hours.
  • The Legal Aid Society of San Diego – Legal Help with Housing, Debt Collection, Repossession, Sales Contracts, Housing Discrimination, Family Law, Immigration, Federal Tax Problems, CalWorks/CalFresh/General Relief, Conservatorships, Restraining Orders, SSI. If you need any legal assistance to help clarify your situation, you can contact the Legal Aid Society of San Diego at (877) 534-2524 or via their online form. The Legal Aid Society is still providing intake and legal assistance remotely. Their specialists are available Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For Workers and Employers

Taxes

Business Resources: California

Resources to Help Businesses Maintain Their Operations

  • CAMEO’s Resources for Small Business – an extensive list of resources (statewide and local) for small businesses
  • The Small Business Administration
  • San Diego Regional EDC: extensive list of resources for city of San Diego businesses.
  • North County EDC – San Diego – resource list for people located in Northern San Diego County
  • Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – As part of the federal CARES Act, the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program helps unemployed Californians who are business owners, self-employed, independent contractors, have limited work history, and others not usually eligible for regular state UI benefits who are out of business or services are significantly reduced as a direct result of the pandemic. The provisions of the program include:
    • Up to 39 weeks of benefits starting with weeks of unemployment beginning February 2, 2020, through the week ending December 26, 2020, depending on when you became directly impacted by the pandemic.
    • A new 13-week federal extension for those who run out of their regular state-provided UI benefits (maximum 26 weeks). File a PUA claim and you may be converted to the federal extension once it is available.

Federal and State Government Resources