SMALL BUSINESS FINANCING, CA RELIEF GRANTS,
DEFERRAL OF BUSINESS FEES, AND PREPARING TO MOVE TO THE RED TIER
City of Milpitas - Office of Economic Development | February 24, 2021
SMALL BUSINESS FINANCING WEBINAR
THURSDAY, 2/25 10-11 AM

In partnership with the NorCal Small Business Development Center, the Office of Economic Development is excited to present a series of monthly webinars to help our business community. The first webinar will cover the topic of Small Business Financing and will be held on Thursday, February 25, at 10 am. We hope you can join us! Click here to register.

The next two webinars are scheduled for March 25th and April 29th and will focus on Small Business Administration Resources and Business Resilience and Retooling.
ADDITIONAL $2.1B ADDED TO CALIFORNIA SMALL BUSINESS
COVID-19 RELIEF GRANT
On February 23rd, Governor Newsom signed a $7.6 billion relief package that will include an additional $2.1 billion for small businesses. Please stay tuned for more details on when the next round of funding will open again. For eligibility and application information on the CA Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant, please visit their website.
DEFERRAL OF LATE FEES ON OUTSTANDING
BUSINESS LICENSE TAXES AND FIRE PERMIT FEES
On February 2nd, the Milpitas City Council voted to bring forth a Resolution to waive penalties on outstanding business license late fees retroactively to January 31, 2021, and no later than May 31, 2021. The Council also voted to bring forth an Ordinance change to defer or waive fire permit fees. The Resolution and Ordinance changes will be brought forth at a future City Council meeting, however businesses will not be issued late fees in the meantime.
PREPARING TO MOVE TO THE RED TIER
Santa Clara County anticipates moving from the Purple Tier to the Red Tier the week of March 8 under the State of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy if COVID-19 cases continue to decrease. Per the State’s guidelines, a County can move to a less restrictive tier after being in the current tier for a minimum of three weeks, and after having met the criteria for the next less restrictive tier for the prior two consecutive weeks. The County’s case rate and positivity rate have begun to decline after the holiday peaks, and if this trend continues, then the business community can expect to operate in the Red Tier soon. As a reminder, the State's Red Tier guidelines are presented below:
 
  • Indoor dining: 25% indoor capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
  • Outdoor dining: allowed with modifications
  • Gyms and fitness centers: 10% indoor capacity; climbing walls may open
  • General retail: 50% indoor capacity
  • Indoor shopping malls: 50% capacity (closed common areas; reduced capacity food courts)
  • Grocery stores: 50% capacity
  • Hair salons and personal care services: allowed indoors with modifications
  • Pools: outdoor only with modifications
  • Family entertainment centers (ex: go-kart racing, mini golf): outdoor only with modifications
  • Movies: 25% indoor capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
  • Cardrooms: must close indoor operations
  • Wineries: outdoor only
  • Outdoor bars, breweries, and distilleries: must close, unless they provide meals in which case outdoor only with modifications
  • Indoor museums: 25% indoor capacity
  • Places of worship: 25% indoor capacity

Indoor and outdoor gatherings up to three households are allowed but encouraged to last no more than two hours. Please note that Santa Clara County may issue more restrictive guidelines than the ones above. The Office of Economic Development will send out a new message with revised capacity limitations once the County officially moves into the Red Tier. While we patiently wait to move into the Red Tier, please visit the Santa Clara County Public Health website for more details on the current Purple Tier as defined in the County’s public health order and capacity limitations
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If you have any questions or need business assistance during COVID-19, please visit our website. Additionally, do not hesitate to contact the Office of Economic Development team by sending us an email. Assistance is available in English, Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and other languages. We will continue to send out pertinent updates as they are made available to keep you informed.

In community spirit,
Alex Andrade
Director of Economic Development
(408) 586-3046