Ivanka Trump helps Treasury prioritize $10B funding for minority-owned small businesses
The Payment Protection Program funding will go toward Community Development Financial Institutions
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Ivanka Trump, senior adviser to President Trump, is working closely with the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration to help allocate $10 billion in funding for minority-owned small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Payment Protection Program (PPP) funding will go toward Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which have so far received $7 billion in approved funding for 95,000 loans, the SBA announced Thursday.
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"As the administration continues to assist our nation’s small businesses, it is critical that we maintain a vigilant focus on assisting those that need it most – specifically those in minority, underserved and rural communities," Ivanka Trump said in a Thursday statement.
Ivanka Trump listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a conference call with banks on efforts to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, at the White House, Tuesday, April 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
She added that the announcement "once again delivers on the president’s promise to fight for forgotten Americans everywhere and is a historic recognition of the unique needs of small businesses and the communities that they serve."
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The administration has so far granted 4.4 million loans worth more than $510 billion to small U.S. businesses to help Americans get back on their feet after months of lockdowns that have led to record unemployment at 14.7 percent.
Unemployment rates among women and minority groups were higher in April. Women reached 16.2 percent unemployment, black Americans reached 16.7 and Latino/Hispanic Americans reached 18.9 percent, according to the Labor Department.
Ivanka Trump, who has spent much of her time in the White House working to support small businesses, especially during the pandemic, helped to secure more than $750 million for CDFIs and has provided additional opportunities for businesses to understand how to best spend their loans.
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Her outreach to large financial companies has helped generate $1.6 billion in private-sector initiatives to help small businesses, she said in April. She also helped launch the Agriculture Department's $3 billion "Farmers to Families Food Box" program, part of the $19 billion coronavirus farmer's assistance program, which requires distributors to deliver food from smaller-scale farmers to nonprofits and faith-based groups in need.
Fish Taco restaurant workers talk to a customer, left, in front of the restaurant in Bethesda, Md., Monday, May 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
"The PPP has helped over 50 million American workers stay connected to their jobs and over 4 million small businesses get much-needed relief," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "We have received bipartisan support for dedicating these funds for CDFIs to ensure that traditionally underserved communities have every opportunity to emerge from the pandemic stronger than before."
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Minority communities in the U.S. have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. An April report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that black hospitalized COVID-19 patients were overrepresented in hospitals, and deaths among black and Hispanic/Latino patients were significantly higher than deaths among white/non-Hispanic patients.
The CDC notes that health differences could be the result of differing economic and social conditions between white and minority communities.