Category: Business

UG announces applications to open May 27 for relief loans for Wyandotte County small businesses

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, is contributing $175,000 in a partnership with financial firm AltCap to launch the KC COVID-19 Small Business Relief Loan Fund.

The funding was approved by the Board of Commissioners and will help support microloans in Wyandotte County for businesses affected by COVID-19. AltCap will begin accepting application Wednesday, May 27.

The contribution of $175,000 in loan loss reserve from the Unified Government will enable over $700,000 in loans for mom and pop sized businesses. The Unified Government enhancement will provide microloans of up to $25,000 for Wyandotte County-based small businesses (20 employees or less; $750,000 or less annual revenue) in industries experiencing significant loss of business due to COVID-19.

“The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, have stepped forward to not only support local businesses, but also to encourage others to find ways large and small to do the same,” Mayor David Alvey said. “The small businesses that are the backbone of our communities need the lifeline this fund may provide during this difficult time, and every contribution made helps more owners and their employees see a possible path forward.”

The collaboration among local government, civic organizations, community leaders and businesses in Kansas City has uniquely allowed our region to respond to the unprecedented challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has caused.

While federal disaster assistance efforts, including the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), has been able to help many businesses, many of our small businesses have been left out and locally supported efforts are critical.

The KC COVID-19 Small Business Relief Loan Fund is administered by AltCap, a local Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). CDFIs are often at the frontlines of disaster recovery efforts helping communities weather the effects of natural disasters, recessions, and other significant economic events.

Underwriting for the fund has prioritized sectors like retail, food service, personal services, arts, and hospitality, that were deemed “nonessential” during the pandemic but are vital to the overall health of our communities and economy.

The loan loss reserve provided by the Unified Government will further target those small businesses that have challenges when trying to take advantage of the State-wide and federal assistance programs.

The first round of funding saw unprecedented application volume from businesses across the region. One Wyandotte County business that has received a loan from the KC COVID-19 Small Business Relief Loan Fund because the federal programs did not fit their specific needs but the flexibility of the AltCap loan will allow them to pay rent and utilities until they open.

Mary Thurber of KC Bowl said, “l want to thank [the Unified Government] for helping small businesses in general, and specifically for helping us. We know that there are only so many dollars to give away and we are so grateful that UG had given them to a fund that helps businesses like ours. Everybody needs it right now, and we don’t know what we’d do without it.”

The next round of KC COVID-19 Small Business Relief Loan Funding opens on Wednesday, May 27. Wyandotte County small businesses will be prioritized due to the contribution by the UG. Interested small businesses should visit www.alt-cap.org for more information and to apply. The application and application assistance will be available in English and Spanish.

About the KC COVID-19 Small Business Relief Loan Fund

The KC COVID-19 Small Business Relief Loan Fund is a community-backed $5 million small business relief loan fund created to provide a financial lifeline to local small businesses experiencing extreme economic disruption and financial strain as a result of the necessary public health measures to combat the COVID-19 virus. The loan fund is administered by AltCap, and supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Civic Council of Great Kansas City, Port KC, the Kansas City Area Development Council, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, KCSourceLink, and KC Rise Fund, with very generous donations from local business and civic leaders listed at www.alt-cap.org/covid-relief-fund.

  • Information from Unified Government

Gas price war

Remember the gas price wars of the 1960s? A new Ameristar gas station opened recently near 55th and Leavenworth Road, sparking a gas price war with a gas station across the street on Wednesday. Gas prices went from 69 cents a gallon to 65 cents, and then to 45 cents a gallon on Wednesday. Traffic was backed up onto Leavenworth Road. They returned to normal levels on Thursday. (Photos by Lacey Watson)

New secretary makes changes in Commerce Department

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Opinion column

by Murrel Bland

David C. Toland’s goal is for the Kansas Department of Commerce to move at the speed of business, not the speed of government.

Toland, who is secretary of the Kansas Commerce Department, was the featured speaker at the Congressional Forum Friday, May 15. Because of the coronavirus epidemic, the meeting was held as a teleconference. The forum is a committee of the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce.

Toland, who was appointed to the job by Gov. Laura Kelly last January, has been busy rebuilding the Commerce Department. He is filling positions that have been vacant for some time. Toland said the agency now has business recruiters in Chicago, Los Angles, Dallas, New York City and Springfield, Missouri. He said that Kansas is a good place to do business because of a lower operating cost and its central location. He also said the agency is recruiting in the international marketplace.

Toland praised Kansas banks for aggressively assisting the Paycheck Protection Program, an effort that the Small Business Administration directed. Kanas businesses received more than $5.1 billion that helped small businesses keep their employees during the downturn that the coronavirus caused.

Toland also praised the cooperative efforts of the Wyandotte Economic Development Council in its effort to help existing business and recruit new firms.

Toland’s appointment was not without controversy. He served as treasurer of Gov. Kelly’s election campaign committee. In March, conservative senators opposed his nomination because of his leadership of Thrive Allen County, a health advocacy and economic development agency in Iola, Kansas. Usually appointments by the governor face little opposition.

Kansans for Life, an anti-abortion organization, opposed Toland’s appointment. Thrive Allen County received a grant from the Dr. George Tiller Fund to help pregnant women stop smoking. Toland supporters stressed that none of the funds paid for abortion services.

Before coming to Iola, Toland worked for Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, D.C., in planning and economic development positions.

Toland received his undergraduate degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas at Lawrence. He is a seventh generation Kansan. He and his wife Beth, a KU alumna, are the parents of a daughter Caroline and a son William.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.