WASHINGTON (May 5, 2020)—U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the Small Business Administration’s decision to reopen the Economic Injury Disaster Relief application portal only to agriculture-related businesses:
“Excluding major segments of the economy from emergency relief funding not only hurts small businesses and workers, but jeopardizes the strength of the broader economic recovery.”
“Non-profit entities—such as destination marketing organizations and arts and culture groups—are essential for driving consumer demand to their regions, and therefore will be major engines of the recovery. They, too, have suffered severe economic hits that have necessitated layoffs and furloughs in almost every case, and without their work to bring customers back many small businesses will not survive even once recovery begins. We urge the Small Business Administration to open the EIDL application process to non-profit groups that play a vital role in economic development, and to non-agricultural small businesses.”
