Today, Representative Adriano Espaillat announced the release of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) information to New York’s 13th congressional district by the Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury Department.
“From Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and the Bronx, we have witnessed far too many small businesses that have closed or been forced to lay off and furlough employees during this COVID-19 pandemic. Anything that can be done to help small business, an independent contractor, or a sole proprietor keep their door open is a measure that should be taken,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13). “In the early days of the PPP loans, we saw that minority-owned small businesses were not seeing the resources and support with the expediency they expected. So, we went back and made sure that mission-based lenders like CDFIs, credit unions, minority depository institutions, and smaller local depository institutions in our community had the ability and lending authority to help their neighbors. And they delivered helping to keep small businesses open and over thirty-thousand jobs retained so far. These businesses are vital to our communities and it is critical that they have the support and assistance necessary to rebuild.”
“The Paycheck Protection Program provided much-needed relief to the operations of Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) at a critical time. After not receiving funds in the first round, DTH turned to Carver Bank – an important financial partner in the Harlem community – to assist us in securing support in the second round. While PPP allowed us to keep our employees on payroll temporarily, our hope is that leadership at the federal level will recognize that it will be at least 9 months before most cultural organizations, especially those situated in Upper Manhattan, will be able to safely reopen – severely impacting our economic viability,” said Anna Glass, Executive Director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. “Dance Theatre of Harlem stands with Congressman Espaillat in his efforts to ensure that our community is not left behind in any future stimulus conversations, and we will lend our support in uplifting the needs of small minority-owned businesses and non-profits.”
“The PPP was invaluable to The Armory Foundation, and we felt very fortunate to have been able to participate in this program. With the awarded funds we were able to pay our full-time Armory team and deliver our robust athletic and educational programming to our community families. The Armory is deeply indebted to Congressman Adriano Espaillat for his leadership and are thankful, with his help, we are able to continue to “Keep Kids on Track!,” said Rita Finkel & Jonathan Schindel, Co-Presidents, The Armory Foundation.
“We were founded in 1960 in the Bronx by minority business owners who weren’t seeing the needs of their community being served by the bigger banks. Our mission then as a minority founded institution, and today as an MDI and CDFI remain the same. We went all-in on the PPP lending program because we believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. Local businesses are the engines that drive resilience and prosperity in our minority and immigrant communities and our role is to help them in any way we can,” said Carlos Naudon, President & CEO of Ponce Bank.
‘The PPP loan was the answer to our prayers. As many non-profits, we get reimbursed late from our government contracts and had difficulties accessing credit lines. The PPP loan allowed us to retain our employees and pay them on time at a time when they needed it the most in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic; and to make rental payments on time as well. We continue to pray that the loan is forgiven to allow us to be in a better financial position and continue to service our clients who are in dire needs,” said Rosita M. Romero, MSW, Executive Director, Dominican Women’s Development Center.
“House and Senate Democrats have been pushing for transparency and information on these loans because we saw too many true local small businesses being left to fend for themselves and we needed to know why to be more informed and forceful advocates,” Espaillat continued. “We are already starting to see headlines and news reports focusing on companies that received PPP loans given their balance sheets and valuations makes little practical sense. And that is fair. But I know that my community – and my constituents – rely on these small businesses and institutions before COVID-19 and as we safely re-open will again return to making our communities stronger and more resilient.”
First elected to Congress in 2016, Rep. Adriano Espaillat is serving his second term in Congress where he serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the House Small Business Committee. He serves as a Senior Whip of the House Democratic Caucus and is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) where he also serves in a leadership role as CHC Whip. He is also chairman of the CHC Task Force for Transportation, Infrastructure and Housing. Rep. Espaillat’s Congressional District includes Harlem, East Harlem, northern Manhattan and the north-west Bronx. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.
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