Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber to aid minority-owned small businesses hit hard by COVID
The Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (FWHCC) recently unveiled its Emergency Economic Relief Microgrant Program to ease the burden on minority-owned small businesses that have been battered by COVID-19.
FWHCC will distribute a total of $15,000 in microgrants, each ranging from $1,000 to $2,500, to minority-owned businesses that have less than 25 employees, are located in Tarrant County and demonstrate a need for emergency economic assistance.
Businesses can apply at FWHCC’s website (fwhcc.org) through Friday, July 24. Recipients of these grants will be notified and awarded the funds by mid-August.
The $15,000 for the program was awarded to FWHCC by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) and Rumba Meats.
FWHCC President Anette Landeros said the program will essentially act as a safety net for minority-owned businesses that haven’t received enough assistance from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or other similar programs.
“We are excited to help those that haven’t had access to any kind of financial assistance for whatever reason. Maybe because they didn’t qualify or maybe they didn’t have their documentation together,” Landeros said. “For whatever reason, we are glad to be a lifeline that they can tap into now.”
Landeros said that that minority-owned businesses have received less in economic assistance compared to non-minority owned businesses.
“During the first two rounds of PPP funding, the statistics showed that minority-owned businesses saw an approval rate of 56% in comparison to 76% for non-minority businesses,” she said. “So that’s a perfect example of this lack of access to funding.”
She added that many of these businesses at first weren’t even aware of the paycheck program or other similar programs. Landeros says that the language barrier for some of these businesses and not understanding how to apply are two possible obstacles in accessing assistance.
FWHCC was among only a handful of other chambers throughout the nation to be awarded these funds because it’s a “high-density Latino market,” according to Landeros.
Rumba Meats, a brand of Cargill, Inc., sought to support small businesses affected by the pandemic, so to do that, it awarded the USHCC $100,000 to distribute to local chambers of commerce throughout the country that apply for the funding, said Pete Stoddart, North America Corporate Responsibility Lead at Cargill.
FWHCC was chosen by USHCC to receive the funds along with chambers in other cities like Miami, Boston and Washington DC.
“Rumba Meats is Cargill’s Hispanic meat brand and it works with local retailers and small businesses, so our brand has that strong connection with the Hispanic community,” Stoddart said. “The Hispanic population is very important to our Rumba brand.”
Stoddart mentioned that this initiative is part of Cargill’s multibillion-dollar global campaign to provide communities relief from the pandemic’s economic fallout.
“We are supporting populations around the world, so the Hispanic population is one of those that is very important to us,” he said.