Originally published in My ChesCo

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) announced that she is pushing House leadership to pay special attention to the unique needs of micro-businesses as they try to weather this crisis.

Houlahan and her team have been working with many sole proprietors and business owners with 20 or fewer employees to help them gain access to Federal assistance. She has also convened roundtable discussions with local lenders in an effort to ensure capital is flowing to our small business owners, as Congress intended.

In a letter to House and Senate Leadership, Houlahan advocated for the smallest of businesses in our communities to have equal access to capital through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and Paycheck Protection Program, as well as any other emergency assistance.

“Small businesses are the economic backbone of this country,” said Houlahan. “It is imperative that we do everything we can to help them weather this crisis. Over the past several weeks, I have convened several virtual town halls and conference calls with small business leaders; I’ve also met virtually with representatives from our local banks and credit unions. Through these conversations, I learned that our smallest companies, in particular sole proprietors and those with a workforce of less than 20, are struggling to access the programs Congress intended to help them. As we work on future COVID-19 response legislation, I want to make sure Congressional leadership in Washington knows what we are seeing on the ground in Chester and Berks Counties. I’m grateful to my community for their advocacy and am proud to be fighting for them at the Federal level.”

Rep. Houlahan has based these legislative proposals on direct conversations and correspondences with members of her community in the small business space, including Thomas, a small business owner in Phoenixville, and Lisa from Exton, who reached out about her husband’s three physical therapy facilities that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Cashflow is critical to businesses, and hopefully the PPP can allow small businesses to keep their employees paid, and ready to reopen when it becomes safe to do so,” said Tom, a small business owner in Phoenixville, PA. “Thank you to Representative Houlahan for all her assistance and for listening.”

“As a small business owner that established in 2004 that grew to 3 physical therapy facilities over the years, we had to close our doors overnight and lost all sources of revenue due to the threat of the COVID19 pandemic,” said Lisa of Exton, PA. “As a small business owner who competes with large businesses within the same industry, it is hard to be competitive to attract not only patients but employees as well by providing competitive salaries and benefit packages. The need for this funding is crucial to the survival of our business.”

“This effort will have a huge impact on many of my clients who are small business owners,” said Mary Kay, an attorney from West Chester, PA. “I am very grateful that my clients and I have such excellent representation in Washington.”

The full text of the letter can be found here.