Creating opportunities for people to live, work, & thrive on the Lower Cape |
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Inside Scoop - February, 2022 |
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Bringing you the latest tools to help your business.
This February we are celebrating Black History Month and encouraging you to support black-owned businesses in your community (this month and beyond!). Consistent with this theme, we are pleased to offer an interview with the Founder and Executive Director of Amplify POC, Tara Vargas-Wallace in our inaugural Spotlight interview. One of Amplify POC's goals is to eliminate the racial wealth gap and create economic equity for communities of color by inspiring and supporting ownership and increasing patronage to POC-Owned business. To that end, Amplify POC created an online directory of POC-Owned businesses. We encourage our readers who are POC-business owners to register their business with Amplify POC.
February's Inside Scoop:
- Food Safety Manager Training and Exam begins 2/28
- Meet CDP events at local libraries begin 3/3
- Exit Strategy Workshop on 3/8
- Digital Marketing Round Table on 3/24
- Introduction to Instragram for Business 4/22
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Spotlight featuring Amplify POC
- IRS Small Business Workshop 2/17
- Barnstable County Business Resiliency Program - applications due 2/22
- Federal Express Small Business Grants - applications due 2/28
- Assets for Artists | Studios at MASS MoCA - upcoming workshops
- Further update to MGCC Small Business Grant Programs
- Current SBA COVID-19 Relief Programs
- Employee Retention Tax Credit - don't miss out
- SEED Small Business Virtual Workshops begin 3/15
- MA Department of Transportation Employer Teleworking Survey
- Help CDP expand its outreach to small businesses on the Lower and Outer Cape
- Business Law Consults Available
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CDP Business Assistance staff is here to help - Make an appointment now
- QuickBooks Help
- Do you need a microloan or professional services grant?
To learn more about these workshops and programs, as well as other topics important to your business, please see below. As always, if there is a business topic that comes up for which you need more information or assistance, please email or call. CDP staff will help find resources to answer your questions.
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Come Meet CDP's Business & Credit Team at Your Local Library
Pam and Tricia are hitting the road to share all that CDP offers. Beginning March 3rd, we are hosting "Meet the CDP" events in conjunction with all eight Lower and Outer Cape libraries. Some events are virtual, others are in person, but all are open to the public. Come say hello and learn about all the ways CDP can help you boost your business. Please help us spread the word about these events.
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SPOTLIGHT: AMPLIFY POC
This month we introduce a new feature to Inside Scoop, Spotlight. Spotlight will feature an interview with local organizations that are of interest to our readers. We will ask each subject the same five questions, focusing on the "why" of the organization, as well as accomplishments, challenges, and next steps. By asking the same questions each month, we will allow our readers to spot themes and trends.
We are thrilled to interview Tara Vargas-Wallace, the Founder and Executive Director of Amplify POC for our first Spotlight. Amplify POC is a racial justice initiative to help amplify businesses owned by people of color (POC) on Cape Cod. One way Amplify POC is accomplishing its mission is by creating a POC business directory on its website, promoting POC business and facilitating POC business networking. Having recently organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Amplify POC also provides training and educational opportunities to enhance economic equity for communities of color on the Cape. Community Development Partnership is please to have an ally in this vital mission.
Read the complete Spotlight interview with Tara Vargas-Wallace here.
We encourage our readers who are POC-business owners to register their business with Amplify POC.
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Hearing All Voices IRS Small Business Workshop and Listening Session 2022 on 2/17
The IRS is hosting a Zoom meeting for small business organizations and owners, especially those that conduct business in languages other than English.
These 2-hour events will include presentations from IRS leadership from Examination, Collection and Taxpayer Advocacy covering the top tax issues affecting small business owners regarding income, deductions, employment taxes and recordkeeping. We’ll also cover getting ready for the 2022 filing season, tax scams targeting small businesses and how the IRS is reorganizing to better serve small business taxpayers. The IRS wants to hear from you! So, these events will include a listening session to hear your concerns, feedback and suggestions. How can the IRS improve your experience as a small business owner?
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Barnstable County announces
Business Resiliency Program
In recent years, local businesses on Cape Cod have faced unprecedented economic challenges. Barnstable County's Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and Woods Hole Sea Grant are offering a program that aims to help Cape Cod small businesses develop plans to respond to and recover from disasters related to flooding and other storm events and build resilience in advance of an emergency.
This business continuity program builds on research-based frameworks, tools, and checklists created in 2021 to help Cape Cod business owners recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and catalyze preparation and response plans for future disasters.
Twenty businesses will be selected by Barnstable County's Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and Woods Hole Sea Grant to participate in the program, which provides 1-on-1 technical support to build a business resiliency plan.
Deadline to apply for the grant is February 22nd
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Community Development Partnership is always here to help you plan for continuity before and during a crisis, as well as thrive in altered circumstances.
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There's no other business quite like yours because no other business has your unique vision, identity and spirit. Ten years ago, the FedEx created its Small Business Grant Contest to put the spotlight on small businesses just like yours. In celebration of the contest's 10th anniversary, FedEx is is awarding more than $360,000 in prizes.
Grand Prize: Three winners of $50,000, plus $4,000 credit for FedEx Office print services.
First Place: Seven winners of $20,000, plus $1,500 credit for FedEx Office print services.
Deadline to enter is February 28th. Click here to learn more and enter.
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Taking Collective Action to Build Community and Fight Racism
Four-week intensive: April 13, 23, 27 & May 4, 2022 | 6-9 p.m. (with 10am - 2:30 p.m. on Saturday 4/23) - Interest Form Due 3/14
White Supremacy is the air that we breathe and present in every aspect of cultural production. This intentional, BIPOC-only affinity group and structured conversation aims to support a community of practice and bolster the work BIPOC artists are already doing to name and interrupt white supremacy in their own artistic practice and sector, while providing a “Brave Space” for discussion. Participants will leave this intensive with a network of activist peers, tools, strategies, and concrete next steps to intentionally build liberatory practices into their own creative practice, including both the creation and performance of artistic work.
This workshop is for BIPOC artists in all disciplines and is open to artists across Massachusetts. This series is intended for artists who are ready to begin, or already have begun, applying liberatory and anti-oppressive frameworks to their artistic practice.
This workshop series requires applicants to fill out an Interest Form. This form is meant to help the facilitators better understand where you are in this work, so we can do our best to build a community with shared levels of analysis. You should not spend more than 15 minutes on it. Interest form deadline: Monday, March 14, 2022.
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MGCC Grant Programs for Small Business Owners
Please read more about both programs below and follow the links. If you think either of these programs is a fit for your business, conntact pam@capecdp.org
or call 508-240-7873 x18.
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Crowd Funding Matching Grant
MGCC is partnering with a crowdfunding platform, Patronicity, to assist low to moderate-income and underserved entrepreneurs, and small business owners with meeting capital needs of their business through matching grants. The objective of the is to provide entrepreneurs with new knowledge and skills for growing their business and advancing toward innovative approaches to obtaining capital through the earned support of local residents, neighborhoods, community members, and stakeholders alike by raising funding to match the amount requested in their grant application.
Eligible MA-based small businesses that have been nominated by MGCC’s SBTA providers may be funded up to $20,000.
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Digital Capacity Building Grant Program - Updated 2/10/22
Update: MGCC will now pay the Business Owner the grant funds upon submission of the Project Completion Certification Form. This change allows business owners who previously couldn’t afford to start digital projects the flexibility to pursue projects by receiving funds before all projects are completed.
MGCC launched its Grant Program for the Development of Digital Capabilities on June 15, 2021 to provide funding (up to $5k) for tools and services to develop digital capabilities for your small business. MGCC will make these funds available for eligible businesses until funding is fully disbursed. MGCC no longer requires a "brick & mortar", public-facing store front. MGCC will cover up to $5,000 without requiring the 20% from the business owner. Eligible MA-based small businesses must be sponsored by MGCC's SBTA providers.
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Current SBA COVID Relief Programs |
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Shuttered Venue Operators Grant
Applicants can choose to apply for any amount up to 50% of their original SVOG amount, with a $10 million cap of the initial and supplemental awards combined, according to the law. The supplemental awards also allow SVOG recipients to extend the time to use their grant funds for expenses accrued through June 30, 2022 and lengthen their budget period to 18 months from the initial grant’s award date. Please note, this program is only available to those organizations that previously applied for the SVOG and received an initial grant.
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Paycheck Protection Program
If your loan is $150,000 or less, you may be eligible to apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA's online portal.
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Employee Retention Tax Credit - Don't Miss Out
The employee retention credit (ERC) is a fully refundable tax credit for employers. This credit passed in 2020 via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Initially, employers had to choose whether to apply for a PPP loan or an ERC. However, a later amendment to the CARES Act allows for employers to take both.
How much can a qualified employer claim?
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Employers can qualify for ERTCs for 4 periods: 2020 as a whole, the first quarter of 2021, the second quarter of 2021, and the third quarter of 2021
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Employers that qualify can claim up to $26,000 per employee; $5,000 for 2020, and $7,000 each for quarters 1, 2, and 3 in 2021
Common misconceptions include:
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If you took a PPP Loan, you cannot file a claim for ERCs. FALSE – legislation updates allow to claim ERCs even if you received a PPP Loan
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If you are over 100 full-time employees, you cannot file a claim for ERCs. FALSE – if you have over 100 full-time employees, you will not be eligible for 2020, however legislation updates allow for employers with under 500 full-time employees to claim ERCs for quarters 1, 2, and 3 in 2021
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If your company’s revenue increased, you cannot file a claim for ERCs. FALSE – while revenue decline is one way to qualify, you can also claim ERCs separately via the “Business Disruption” test even if revenues have increase
Jeff Bastien of RogersGray reports he is helping most of his clients qualify via the “Business Disruption” test. Many of his clients saw revenues increase through the Pandemic. However, he was able to help them claim ERCs by developing fact patterns showing their business was “disrupted as the result of a government mandate or an executive order”, including:
- Work from home order
- Job site shutdown
- Capacity restriction
- Supply chain disruptions
- Limited commerce
- Travel restrictions
Check with your tax professional to explore how your business can qualify for these ERCs.
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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation needs your help to understand employer teleworking policies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It asks that a representative with knowledge about your organization's overall teleworking policies take the survey. The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete.
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Help Community Development Partnership
Expand its Outreach to Small Business
CDP is actively expanding its outreach efforts to small business owners and entrepreneurs on the Lower and Outer Cape. If you are receiving this e-newsletter, then you likely have worked with CDP to strengthen and grow your business. Who better to spread the word about all CDP has to offer than a satisfied customer?! As one of our recent business owners put it, "everyone needs someone to talk to". You already know that CDP is a great "someone" with whom to discuss your small business goals and challenges.
Spend a few minutes looking at your Contacts and think about who you know that would benefit from working with CDP's Business & Credit Programs. Drop us a line to share a referral, or share this newsletter with business owners you know who might benefit from working with CDP. We work with businesses in all stages of growth, including inception. Help us fulfill our mission of Leading the Lower Cape in building a diverse community of year-round residents who can afford to live, work and thrive here.
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CDP offers Individual Business Guidance in a number of ways.
How can we help your business?
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Individual Business Guidance
Are you self-employed, a solopreneur or a small business owner, and live or work on the Lower Cape?
The CDP offers individual business guidance for all types of businesses.
What are your business needs?
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Professional Services Grants Still Available for 2021/2022.
Many businesses are finding the need to change their business model in these turbulent times. The CDP has Grant Funds available to help business owners hire specialized consultants to quickly implement these changes whether in technology, legal or marketing.
Make an appointment to learn more and to help stabilize or grow your business.
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Individual Mentoring through SCORE
SCORE offers individual mentoring across the Cape. The CDP partners with SCORE to offer mentoring on the Lower Cape. Due to COVID19 all SCORE Mentoring Session are currently being help remotely. Please register with SCORE using the link below.
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QuickBooks Help tailored to your needs!
Did you struggle putting your records together to give your accountant?
Do you use QuickBooks but need to learn how it can do a better job for you and provide you with the information you need when you need it?
CDP Staff offers QuickBooks help. Follow the link below and schedule an appointment to get your business on track.
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Need a microloan?
The CDP has microloans up to $50,000 for small businesses on the Lower and Outer Cape. Visit our website for complete program details and eligibility requirements.
We are able to lend to businesses that have a limited credit history, are too new to obtain a bank loan or need help developing a business plan or cash flow projections. We even work with local banks offering loan packaging to potential applicants.
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The CDP's small business and technical assistance programs are made possible by the following funders: |
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Mass Growth Capital Corporation
Cape Cod Five Charitable Foundation Trust
Rockland Trust
Santander Bank
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Follow the CDP on Social Media! |
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer. |
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