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Evelyn Guillen couldn’t get either the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program or Economic Injury Disaster Loan when she applied for financial help to comply with COVID-19 reopening protocols for her health insurance consulting businesses on Broad Street in Providence.
Credit a new Providence Revolving Fund initiative for helping mirco business entrepreneurs such as Guillen reemerge from pandemic lockdowns. Launched in June, the Commercial Corridor Micro-Business Loan Fund provides between $500 and $5,000 to help with reopening costs necessary to comply with public health mandates.
Guillen is one of nine women-owned enterprises in and around Broad Street, Cranston Street, Elmwood Avenue, Broadway and Westminster Street receiving microloans this summer. Most like Guillen’s, a Black Latina, are minority-owned.
“This microloan was a blessing at a time I needed it most,” said Guillen, who borrowed $4,500 to redesign her office with dividers and hand sanitizer and water stations.
A massage therapy practice used its loan to convert a single therapy room into two, so one could be cleaned while the other was in use. A Jamaican restaurant purchased outdoor tables and chairs and launched a mobile app to improve the system for takeout orders.
PRF started with $100,000 that the Providence City Council matched. Customers Bank contributed another $5,000 for a total of $205,000. Borrowers receive technical assistance from the Center for Women & Enterprise and the Center for Southeast Asians.
It all came together within one month, an almost unheard of timeframe for putting together a loan program, PRF Executive Director Carrie Zaslow said. “We knew this was what we are built to do.”
Qualifying businesses must have fewer than 10 employees and annual earnings under $250,000. Borrowers can choose a 0% interest rate or 2% with first payment due in six months. Zaslow said most recipients chose the 2% rate. The loans have a 24-month term.
