Ninety-three percent of Black families that have the credit score and income to qualify for a home loan do not move on to purchase a home because they lack the cash needed for their down payment, according to a Colorado nonprofit working to reverse that trend. Gary Community Ventures is offering up to $40,000 in […]
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Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: What we learned after a week of Colorado paying pandemic unemployment benefits
Colorado saw another intense week of job news with several examples of what’s working and what’s really not. As 230,000 out-of-work residents clamored to reopen their unemployment accounts on Monday, there was joy and pain, relief and frustration, clogged support lines and some who gave up and then got paid anyway. My conclusion: Nothing makes […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
New form isn’t the “blanket forgiveness” some Colorado businesses hoped for in federal paycheck loan program
Months after the federal Paycheck Protection Program stopped taking applications for forgivable small business loans, banks and lenders are still unclear on how to forgive them. The new simpler form, released Friday, is supposed to make it less complicated for those who borrowed up to $50,000. But it isn’t as simple as some had hoped, […]
Posted inBusiness, News
What’s Working: “Lost wages” gets a new deadline, overpayment forgiveness, small business updates and more
Remember M. Hurley, who started a petition last month to bring attention to the plight of jobless Coloradans suddenly facing a massive bill from the unemployment office? The M was Meggan, and I spoke to her the day after President Donald Trump told officials to stop negotiating a new relief plan until after the election […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
A mission-minded loan source that doesn’t care if you’re a startup with no experience, revenues or credit
When Valerie and Cesar Beltran decided to open Beltran’s Meat Market & Grill in Northglenn four years ago, they thought their past experience of running their own meat market in New Mexico and then a Front Range tortilla factory was enough to make them creditworthy. But as opening day approached, the couple realized they needed […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s final count: 109,170 businesses approved for $10.4 billion in federal coronavirus loans
The portal to forgiveness has opened, and it’s looking very empty. Many banks that provided federal coronavirus relief loans to small businesses in Colorado are still waiting before jumping into the next phase of the Paycheck Protection Program, which stopped accepting applications on Saturday. The portal opened to lenders on Monday, even as more updates […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado’s overlooked but mighty small businesses still have time to grab a lifeline
Working for one of Colorado’s oldest family foundations, we heard panic from our community lending partners almost immediately as the COVID-19 pandemic began forcing closures: The smallest local businesses — the ones without bankers on speed dial, many nonprofits and those owned by minorities, women, veterans, immigrants — were falling through the cracks. These businesses […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Politics and Government
5 charts showing where federal coronavirus loans went in Colorado, which industries benefited the most
More than 104,000 Colorado small businesses received $10.4 billion in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans to help tide them over during the coronavirus. The U.S. Small Business Administration, which oversaw the $660 billion federal relief program, released the data on approved loans, and The Colorado Sun spent time crunching the numbers to find out more […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Politics and Government
Federal coronavirus loans slow as Colorado businesses wonder if they’ll actually be forgiven
The $49,000 small business loan was Linda Jones’ for the taking. But ultimately, the owner of Area Rent-Alls in Westminster abandoned the loan, which could have been forgiven if it was primarily used to pay employees. It certainly would have offset lost revenue as office and construction equipment rentals slowed during the coronavirus stay-at-home measures. […]