Per an announcement made by Governor Baker, the Commonwealth has updated the list of essential businesses during the COVD-19 pandemic and has also extended the stay-at-home advisory through Monday, May 4th.
New guidances were announced today around hotels, motels, inns, beds and breakfasts and other short-term residential rentals.
See the updated list of essential businesses HERE
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WASHINGTON – SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza issued the following statement today in response to the President’s address to the nation:
“The President took bold, decisive action to make our 30 million small businesses more resilient to Coronavirus-related economic disruptions. Small businesses are vital economic engines in every community and state, and they have helped make our economy the strongest in the world. Our Agency will work directly with state Governors to provide targeted, low-interest disaster recovery loans to small businesses that have been severely impacted by the situation. Additionally, the SBA continues to assist small businesses with counseling and navigating their own preparedness plans through our network of 68 District Offices and numerous Resource Partners located around the country. The SBA will continue to provide every small business with the most effective and customer-focused response possible during these times of uncertainty.”
Process for Accessing SBA’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Disaster Relief Lending
For additional information, please contact the SBA disaster assistance customer service center. Call 1-800-659-2955 (TTY: 1-800-877-8339) or e-mail .
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation has launched an Emergency Micro-loan Program in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to assist small businesses that need access to funding due to hardship stemming from the outbreak. Loans of up to $20,000 will be awarded to qualifying local businesses that find themselves in a situation where they need access to capital and want to avoid high-interest credit cards or expensive and un-regulated online lenders. If approved, the business is also eligible to receive business assistance from NCMDC staff and consultants.
“As we work to confront this Public Health crisis, it is important to remember its effects on our local economy,” said Mayor Stephen DiNatale of Fitchburg. “It is absolutely paramount that we come together to support our small businesses community. I encourage us all to think of the ways we can buy local–ordering takeout, buying gift-cards, doing whatever we can to safely support our neighbors–but at the same time efforts like this emergency loan fund will offer a critical life-line to businesses when they need it most. We are so fortunate to have a partner in the Chamber that works so rapidly to support small businesses in North Central Massachusetts.”
To qualify under this program, you must be an existing small business and be able to provide two years of tax returns, as well as demonstrate a direct financial impact of COVID-19 on your business. The loan amounts and terms are flexible to fit the situation of the business.
“We are pleased to see the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce’s emergency fund be offered so quickly,” said Mayor Dean Mazzarella of the City of Leominster. “No business could have ever planned for this pandemic and local businesses now have a loan opportunity that will take them through this difficult situation.”
Additionally, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers low-interest loans to help businesses recover from COVID-19. For more information visit sba.gov/disaster.
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC) is a non-profit economic development corporation with the mission of creating jobs and improving the economy. NCMDC is certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program. The NCMDC works in partnership with local banks, credit unions, chambers of commerce and area nonprofits to support emerging microenterprises, small businesses, and community projects in 76 communities in Worcester, Middlesex and Franklin Counties with loans and business assistance. Since 1996, the NCMDC has granted over $6,900,000 in loans to small businesses to help grow jobs and the economy in the region.
For more information about emergency micro-loans or the other loan programs available through the NCMDC, please contact Sandie Cataldo, Economic Development Manager at or at 978-353-7600 ext 232 or VISIT HERE.
On Friday I emailed you to inform you of how the Chamber and our affiliate organizations were responding to the Coronavirus outbreak. Our commitment remains with serving you and the communities of North Central Massachusetts in any capacity we can during this unprecedented time. The situation remains fluid and conditions have already changed since my last message. Therefore, I wanted to update you on our most recent efforts to help you navigate these troubled waters. Please keep in mind that our plans may change as new information arises.
Emergency Loan Fund: We are launching an Emergency Loan program to provide quick approval with loans of up to $20,000 to help businesses. Loans will be awarded to qualifying local businesses that need access to capital and want to avoid high-interest credit cards or expensive and un-regulated online lenders. If approved, the business is also eligible to receive business assistance from our NCMDC staff and consultants. To qualify, you must be an existing small business and be able to provide two years of tax returns, as well as demonstrate a direct financial impact of Coronavirus on your business. The loan amounts and terms may be flexible to fit the situation of the business. We also continue to provide loans of up to $150,000 through our existing loan programs, but those may take longer to approve. Please contact Sandie Cataldo at or Brendan Hannen at to inquire about a loan if you need one. We are also in close contact with the SBA and other economic development partners and can connect businesses to other lending resources if needed;
Dedicated Email Hotline: To provide support during this crisis, we have established a dedicated email hotline – – for businesses to contact us for assistance. This special inbox will be monitored by several staff. We will do our best to respond to requests for help as they come in. If we are unable to help, then we will try to connect you with someone who can. We will strive to respond as quickly as possible;
Visitor Center: Effective today, as a precaution, our Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center on Route 2 in Lancaster will be closed. This was a difficult decision, but the center is a very high traffic location and we want to ensure the traveling public and our staff are safe. MassDOT will be placing port-a-johns in the parking lot during the closure and a sanitary cleaning of the facility has been scheduled for the near future;
Marketing/Promotions: We are working on promotional efforts to help those businesses that have been most impacted. Yesterday, we launched “Takeout Blitz” on our social media to support the restaurant community and have seen a strong response so far. We have a very strong social media presence and encourage members to email David Ginisi, marketing and communications manager, with any news, updates or promotions that your business is offering during this situation. We will make every effort to share that information and are working with other economic development and business groups to assist businesses through this disruption and once it has passed;
Coronavirus Information & Resources: Our Coronavirus Information Page is continuously updated with the latest guidance from local, state and federal authorities. We are committed to keeping our members and the public informed and will be posting throughout this crisis on our various social media platforms as new information becomes available. If you have not done so yet, please follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram;
Webinars: We are in the process of developing several webinars to provide immediate guidance to businesses and encourage you to check our calendar of events and webinar library regularly. Details will be posted soon. Please email Kat Deal, our program and events manager, at with any specific topic ideas that you think would be of value to your business at this moment;
Coronavirus Impact Survey: We continue to collect responses to our survey on business impacts. To date, we have had over 170 members respond to the survey. If you have not done so yet, please take a moment to complete it. The responses will help us assess the impact of our efforts, develop helpful tools and resources and advocate for recovery measures. All information will be reported in general terms and individual business information will remain confidential;
Chamber Events: In light of the Governor’s action yesterday, we have cancelled or postponed meetings and events through early April. We will work to reschedule many of these to later in the Spring. Please visit our website for the status of our programs.
Chamber Operations: Effective Tuesday, March 17, 2020 the Chamber will implement a skeleton crew at our office and apply remote work options for the remainder of our team. This decision was made with an abundance of caution and in the interest of protecting the health and safety of our staff and clients. We want to make sure that we can continue to be a resource to you during this crisis. All staff will have access to their emails and voicemail and can respond to requests as quickly as possible
In closing, we recognize the challenges and uncertainty that you are feeling right now. We are here for you. At its core – the Chamber is a network of businesses that come together to support each other and provide leadership in their communities. I am confident that we will get through this, better and stronger by working together!
Roy Nascimento, IOM, CCE
President & CEO
It has been a difficult couple of weeks, with the world reacting with uncertainty to the Coronavirus and market news. The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and our affiliate organizations have been closely monitoring the outbreak and its impact on our members and communities. Our commitment lies with serving you and our region in any capacity we can during this unprecedented time.
I wanted to provide you with an update on how we and our affiliates – the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation and Visit North Central Massachusetts – are responding. This is our plan as of now, but clearly things could change as new information arises.
Chamber Events: It is important that our members remain safe and secure from any potential exposure to the Coronavirus- therefore the Chamber has cancelled most of our major events for the month of March including our Good Morning North Central Breakfast and the upcoming Economic Forecast Breakfast. Many of our smaller events, forums and meetings in March have also been postponed for now. We will work to reschedule many of these to later in the Spring. Any members registered will receive a credit, or a refund if they prefer. We will be closely monitoring the situation and take any necessary precautions regarding April events and meetings as needed. Please stay tuned for more information or visit our website for the status of our programs.
Webinars: We encourage members to explore the webinar library offered on our website that we launched in the Fall. Stay tuned for new online opportunities for learning and information exchange. Responding to the current situation and in an effort to support members, the Chamber is working on developing new webinars focused on the complex issues facing businesses during this crisis and post-crisis.
Chamber Operations: Both the Chamber Office and our Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center on Route 2 are maintaining regular office hours for now, with special protocols in place. We want to make sure that that we can continue to be a resource to you, so we have also taken the necessary steps so that our team can work remotely, if they need to.
Coronavirus Impact Survey: In an effort to gain an accurate assessment of the outbreak’s impact to businesses, the Chamber has created this brief survey. Thank you to the many members that have already completed the survey. If you have not done so yet, please take a moment to. All information will be reported in general terms and individual business information will remain confidential. Alternatively, please feel free to reach out to me directly with any challenges or disruptions that you have experienced over the last two weeks.
Coronavirus Information & Resources: We have developed an online page with links to different resources to help educate employers and employees on how to prepare for and address the impacts of the Coronavirus. It includes information from the CDC, State and the US Chamber. We will update this online toolkit as new guidance and information becomes available. We encourage you to continue to monitor the outbreak and implement strategies to help protect your customers and employees, with the least possible impact to your operations.
Lending and Assistance: Our team is ready to discuss small business assistance programs and loans to help cover any cash flow challenges you may be experiencing from any disruption in business. If we can’t help, we can connect you to the SBA or one of our other partners who may be able to assist you. Please contact Sandie Cataldo, Economic Development Manager at 978.353.7600 ext. 232 or Brendan Hannen at ext. 234 for assistance or to inquiry about an emergency loan.
Post-Outbreak Recovery Promotion: Our marketing team is strategizing on a few different marketing campaigns to support small businesses in recovering from the disruption. We are also collaborating with other groups in advocating for the development of a state-wide campaign. Please contact David Ginisi, our Marketing and Communications Manager at ext. 240 if you have any thoughts or ideas.
In closing, we recognize that you may be feeling the impact of this crisis in an immediate and profound way. We are committed to helping you get through this. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if we can help.
Roy Nascimento, IOM, CCE
President & CEO
Earlier this week, Governor Baker declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak of coronavirus. In an effort to gain an accurate assessment of the outbreak’s impact to businesses in North Central Massachusetts, the Chamber and its affiliate organizations have created this brief survey. Please take a moment to answer the following questions. All information will be reported in general terms and individual business information will remain confidential.
Thank you in advance for your participation. Click here for information and resources for businesses dealing with the Coronavirus Outbreak.
