HOUSTON/KAIROS— With the entire country waiting on The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to pass, one executive search firm has provided a resource to empower small business owners, churches, and nonprofits to understand how it will affect them. Vanderbloemen, the leading Christian search firm, hosted a Facebook Live on March 25th detailing how the recent government updates will affect churches, Christian schools, nonprofits, and values-based businesses during COVID-19.
"I can guarantee you that there is a pent up spiritual energy right now that will overflow once we are past this."
Vanderbloemen’s hour-long broadcast focused solely on that issue, particularly as churches and 501(c)(3)s were included in the bill in recent days. The response to the webinar was overwhelming as the need to understand the bill far outweighs the resources available to understand the 880-page document.
Sutton Turner, the Chief Operations Officer of Vanderbloemen, studied the bill extensively and spent time in the webinar to explain the nuances of how much aid will be given to small businesses, churches, and nonprofits, how that aid is calculated, what it covers, and the details of how aid is accessed.
According to Vanderbloemen, the response has been nothing short of a landslide. CEO and Founder William Vanderbloemen said,
“The lead team of our company has spent most of today just answering questions from all over the US about this bill. We knew that clients needed this information, but the need was far greater than we anticipated. While we aren’t attorneys or bankers, Sutton Turner did a fantastic job researching the bill and guiding our audience through its impact on their organizations. I couldn’t be more proud of our team and hope this is helpful to thousands of small businesses, churches, and nonprofits in the days to come. Small businesses, churches, and nonprofits are the backbone of this country, and we are honored to be able to help all of them in this critical time for their survival.”
In the webinar, Turner explained that the CARES Act Economic Relief Plan includes the Paycheck Protection Program, which will directly aid non-profits, churches, and Christian schools that are 501(c)(3)s. This program will loan funds to those who qualify for business expenses such as rent, payroll, and utilities. Fortunately, this type of loan can be forgiven if the employer maintains its current payroll. The CARES Act Economic Relief Plan will provide relief to many small businesses in this time of crisis.
William Vanderbloemen closed the webinar with a hopeful message pointing out that the economic downturn due to COVID-19 is creating an unprecedented opportunity for churches, Christian schools, and nonprofits across our country:
“Lots of people are talking about the pent up energy in our economy right now, and I hope they are right. But I can guarantee you that there is a pent up spiritual energy right now that will overflow once we are past this. People need hope and each other like never before. Nobody has a message of hope like the Church, and once it can gather together in person, I believe you’ll see a tidal wave of hope hit the streets.”
The full presentation, along with slides used for explanation and calculation is below: