Small businesses benefit from City’s continuity fund during the pandemic

Through the City of Dallas’ Small Business Continuity Fund (SBCF), over 600 businesses across Dallas received help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
One such business is The Creative Couch, a video production agency run by the husband-and-wife team, Jerod and Shannon Couch.
 
“One of the things we value is having a high retention rate; our customers value the work we do and the quick turnaround times we adhere to,” said Jerod. “Unfortunately, the pandemic impacted our customers leaving us with minimal business.”
 
Jerod said he and his wife found out about the SBCF program through an email blast. Receiving the funds helped The Creative Couch stay competitive and find new talent.
 
“It’s so important to help a business weather the storm of a once in a lifetime pandemic as well as give small businesses a competitive edge and level the playing field against bigger corporations,” said Jerod. “Startups are usually a month-to-month proposition and to have that capital influx to fortify your business allows us to focus on what matters the most and that’s our customers.”
 
The funding, offered through the Office of Economic Development, was created to provide relief to small businesses, targeted those that had revenue under $1.5 million and suffered a 25% loss or more as a result of COVID-19 closures.
 
All current SBCF funding has been deployed, which resulted in 614 grants and 32 loans. More information on the awards can be found here: https://www.dallasecodev.org/568/SBCF-Applications-and-Awards-Summary.
 
The Office of Economic Development is now asking business owners to participate in a survey that will help them assess needs for any future funding program
The survey can be found here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/R8SJN69