Carper, Coons, Blunt Rochester Announce $1.8 Million in CARES Act Funding to Help Small Businesses Across Delaware Respond to Coronavirus

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper, Chris Coons and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.) announced that the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding $1.8 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants to capitalize and administer Revolving Loan Funds (RLFs) that will provide critical gap financing to small businesses and entrepreneurs that have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic across Delaware.       

The EDA investments are:

• True Access Capital Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware, will receive a $1.2 million EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to support Delaware-based small businesses that have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by capitalizing and administering an RLF to provide loans to coronavirus-impacted businesses in the State Delaware.

• Wilmington Economic Development Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware, will receive a $616,000 EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to respond to the coronavirus pandemic by capitalizing and administering an RLF to provide loans to coronavirus-impacted businesses in Wilmington.

“EDA has a history of making smart investments in Delaware, including helping educate future technicians at the Automotive Center for Excellence in Georgetown and helping start-ups and small businesses get up and running at the Delaware Innovation Space in Wilmington,” said Senator Carper. “These investments can serve as a lifeline, especially now that this pandemic has put so much stress on our communities and small businesses in Delaware.”

“True Access Capital and WEDCO are both community lenders that support diverse and first-time business owners in Delaware,” said Senator Coons. “They helped Leroy Tice expand his law practice, Andrea Sikora to cook up La Fia Bistro, and Darrick Hayman to launch DLHcad LLC, an emerging design firm. I’m pleased that $1.8 million will support current borrowers and other small businesses impacted by COVID-19.”

“As so many Delaware small businesses and entrepreneurs still feel the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, these EDA investments will help keep businesses open. The pandemic has caused immense hardship for small businesses and these investments will assist these businesses as they work hard to continue operating,” said Rep. Blunt Rochester. “I’m pleased that this funding from the CARES Act will be directed to those businesses which are truly the backbone of our economy.”

These current EDA RLF grantees are some of the more than 850 existing, high-performing EDA RLF, Economic Development District, University Center, and Tribal grant recipients invited to apply for supplemental funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.