Suz Mac Cormac spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about efforts to help small businesses navigate the federal government’s coronavirus relief programs with the California Small Enterprise Task Force (also known as the Bay Area Small Enterprise Task Force), a network of volunteers that includes legal, financial, and nonprofit professionals, as well as UC Berkeley Law School students who provide free legal help to entrepreneurs.
“We are in the first inning of how it’s going to affect the economy,” said Suz, who co-founded the task force. “We could have 30 to 40% unemployment. We are going to have bread lines.”
The task force is also working to create a $1 billion investment fund that would direct money to small businesses, with the goal of looking beyond the next few months and instead aiming to keep small businesses afloat for at least a year.
According to Suz, getting a $1 billion fund up and running would typically take “six to 12 months,” but the need is so urgent, she said, “that we’re trying to build the plane in midair.”
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