SAN DIEGO — San Diego's mom-and-pop businesses and government agencies alike are awaiting their share of the $900 billion dollar stimulus package.
The package provides forgivable loans for small businesses, boosts unemployment checks by $300 per week, and infuses billions into rental assistance, vaccine distribution, education, and child care.
Michel Malecot is readying to apply for a new forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan, from the new package. He got about $472,000 in the first round in March to help The French Gourmet and catering operation stay afloat. Now, his Pacific Beach bakery restaurant is having to deal with another shutdown order that disallows outdoor dining.
"I'm super happy because we really needed it," he said. "I don’t think people realize that the caterers and the restaurants that have been closed, they still have to make payroll if they want to be around for the future. We need to continue to maintain good people.”
A county spokesman said Monday that officials were still trying to determine how much would be coming San Diego’s way.
Attorney Kelly DuFord Williams, managing partner of Slate Law Group, said, however, that the cash won't all come at once.
“If California is working directly with the federal government to receive the funds, my guess is it's going to be a lot faster for those agencies to get that funding,” she said. “The PPP loan will be distributed directly from the federal government to people across the nation via their bank accounts, and it’s going to depend on who is prepared and who is not, and whose application gets processed first and whose doesn’t.”
The region remains plagued by high unemployment. The state recently reported about 100,000 San Diegans are out of a job - numbers that predate the latest shutdown order.