The COVID relief money the government made available has literally helped millions of small businesses. However, as the pandemic lingers on small businesses in particular need help. A new bipartisan proposal in the Senate is looking to make another $68 billion available for businesses such as bars, restaurants, and other types of food service establishments.
The Senators are proposing to reallocate unused money authorized under previous packages as well as new spending to fund the bill. With fears of the Omicron variant growing, the Senators want to prevent restaurants from closing this winter. Read more on the possibility of new COVID relief money:
In addition to the COVID relief money, there are many other grants available to small businesses across the U.S. Take a look at the following articles to get more information:
- Start 2022 on the Right Foot with These Local Small Business Grants Opportunities
- Cities and Counties Offer Small Business Grants to Relieve COVID Stress
Small Business News Roundup – January 14, 2022
Here are the other stories important to small business owners this week:
NFT Artists Struggling with Piracy Issues
Nonfungible tokens or NFTs are all the rage in the creator community. Unfortunately, artists are struggling with piracy as criminals use their work to create NFTs without their permission. NFT Artists Struggling with Piracy Issues The piracy issue of NFTs is a big problem for artists that have their content online.
Hourly Wages at Small Businesses Hit Record Level in December
As 2021 drew to a close, the average hourly wage at small businesses locked in at $30, according to the Paychex IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch. The December data shows hourly earnings growth improving to 4.27%, which is the highest level since Paychex began reporting 10 years ago. Hiring at small businesses also closed 2021 on an optimistic stat, improving 7.
Don’t Get Used to These Lower Gas Prices; They’re Going Back Up
Vehicle owners were warned recently that the recent low gas prices were not going to last, and they could be about to significantly increase. This is because the lower demand for fuel around this time of year often lowers the price at the pump, but such downward trends do not last.
IRS Lists Top 10 Criminal Tax Investigations in 2021
The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) recently listed the top ten most prominent and high-profile cases they investigated during 2021. The IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS who are responsible for conducting investigations into financial crimes such as tax fraud, money-laundering and public corruption.
Customers Want These 8 Things from Local Businesses Post-Pandemic
Most Americans want to support more small businesses in 2022. This was the finding of a survey that was commissioned by GoDaddy and conducted by OnePoll. The survey found that since the pandemic began, 76% of consumers have made an effort to support local small businesses.
Uber and Visa Team Up for Restaurant Business Grant Program
Uber and Visa just announced a new small business grant program to support independent restaurants in 10 cities. The Grants for Growth program offers $1 million, distributed in grants of $10,000 to 100 merchants. To qualify, businesses must be active on Uber Eats as of January 1, 2022.
COVID Rapid Test Kits for Small Business Made Available Through New Partnership
A new partnership between Paychex and HireRight is going to allow small businesses to manage workplace testing of COVID-19. The new service will make it possible for Paychex clients to order bulk or small batch orders of rapid COVID-19 test kits. According to Paychex, these kits will give businesses results within 15 to 30 minutes after a test is administered.
What’s Driving the Rising Cost of Everything in the US?
Inflation has surged in recent months. In 2021, the US Consumer Price Index rose to 6.8%, its fastest rate since 1982.
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This article, “In the News: $68B for Bars and Restaurants in New COVID Relief Proposal” was first published on Small Business Trends