The Carrboro Town Council discussed a loan program to support local businesses and nonprofits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic at a meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting was held virtually, and Mayor Lydia Lavelle said the Town is looking into ways for citizens to make public comments in this setting.
Helping small business and nonprofits
The majority of the meeting’s time was spent focusing on approving a short-term loan and grant program for small businesses and nonprofits in Carrboro. The program proposes loans at a maximum of $25,000 for applicants at zero interest. Orange County is launching a similar program.
One of the concerns brought up from council members such as Damon Seils was a desire to ensure that funds from the loan program were used primarily to meet payroll expenses to prevent layoffs. Seils said many people in Carrboro have already been laid off from jobs.
The program will be funded by an existing revolving loan fund the Town has, which Seils said has been underutilized in the past.
Council member Barbara Foushee said she wanted to make sure the process for obtaining loans is equitable. She said the group that will decide who receives the loans should be diverse, and no business should be excluded from finding out about the loans.
“These decisions about the applications cannot be made, cannot move forward until we have this representation at the table because it’ll level the playing field for everyone,” Foushee said
