Virtual summit focuses on assisting businesses in DeKalb County

September 7, 2021 Christine Fonville

Starting and growing a business can be a challenge in the best of times, and for many entrepreneurs the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded those challenges.

Giving business owners information and resources to ease that burden is part of the reason DeKalb County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said she organized the second annual DeKalb County Business Summit.

“I’ve encountered a lot of questions about help and funding and what is available for businesses,” said Cochran-Johnson. “The county does provide services and can work with you to make sure your business operates in such a way that it can take advantage of funds and opportunities when they present themselves.”

The summit included more than 15 speakers across five virtual panel discussions, ranging from how and where to do business in DeKalb to navigating a business through the COVID-19 crisis.

“The effects during this pandemic are far-reaching. Recovery will not be quick, and many individuals continue to struggle,” said Cochran-Johnson. “One of the things here in DeKalb County that was rather alarming to me was that when we initially made access available to our Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds, what we found was that many businesses simply did not qualify. They were not legitimized and had not taken the steps to do so. For the very first round of financial allocation, we had set aside $10 million, but we were only able to award slightly over $5 million.”

Cochran-Johnson said there are still funds available for businesses in need in DeKalb County. The DeKalb Better Business Loan Program was launched in 2020 and is a partnership with local banks to provide financial relief to small DeKalb County businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials from the following organizations spoke and may provide helpful resources to small businesses: