Hickory Sun

Small businesses in North Carolina are taking a massive hit during the COVID-19 outbreak, but the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will offer relief in the form of low-interest disaster loans.

Gov. Roy Cooper is among other top state executives nationwide and local leaders who have ordered business closures to stop the spread of the virus.

The SBA’s disaster relief program provides low-interest loans of up to $2 million for eligible businesses and nonprofits.

“Many small businesses are desperate right now, and this SBA approval will help,” the Democratic governor said in a March 19 statement. “Even more is needed, and we will continue to push for additional assistance while we work to protect the health of North Carolinians."

More can be done, according to Jon Sanders, director of regulatory studies at the John Locke Foundation, a nonprofit, independent think-tank.

The franchise tax for small businesses should also be cut, Sanders told The Center Square for its March 19 report. Businesses pay this state tax to operate.

“The state could eliminate the minimum $200 payment or reduce it to the $35 as it had been until 2015 to help smaller corporations and LLCs,” Sanders told the publication.

The state’s unemployment claims increased drastically after Cooper’s executive order on March 17 closing dine-in service at restaurants and bars was issued and workers were left idle.

“We did not come to this decision easily. But North Carolina must keep fighting this pandemic with the right weapons,” Cooper said in the March 17 statement announcing the closings. “During this time of uncertainty, I will keep working to protect the health and safety of North Carolinians and keep our state’s economy afloat.”

Cooper also expanded the criteria to qualify for unemployment and eliminated the wait time to file a claim.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has reported six COVID-19 deaths and more than 1,300 cases as of March 30.