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Facebook announced a new small business loan program for real estate brokers and other small business owners in response to the Coronavirus Outbreak in the United States - pledging a total of $40 million dollars to 10,000 real estate brokers and other small businesses starting with the 34 locations where their employees live and work. The grant would consist of $2,500 in cash plus another $1,500 in Facebook ad credits (delivered via ad coupons). You don't have to be an existing Facebook advertiser to apply.
"We know that many businesses, especially small businesses, are impacted by the global outbreak of COVID-19," Facebook announced in a recent post on the Facebook Business Blog. "We’ve listened to businesses to understand how we can support them, and are working to provide as much support as possible that meets their needs."
The grants are designed to help small business owners retain their workforce, cover operational costs and connect with new customers as ad costs drop on Facebook and Instagram due to increased audience sizes and decreased competition from other businesses.
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We reached out to Facebook for more information on the program and how our real estate clients can apply:
"Facebook will start taking applications on a rolling basis, focused on New York and Seattle first, rolling out to the remaining cities over the course of the following week."
To be eligible for the grant, businesses must:
- Be a for-profit company
- Have between 2 and 50 employees
- Have been in business for over a year
- Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
- Be in or near a location where Facebook operates
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Starting on April 18, 2020 small businesses in New York and Seattle will be able to apply for the grants here. Small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area will be able to apply beginning April 20, 2020. The rest of the locations (listed below) will be eligible starting April 22, 2020.
A similar program is being researched by Facebook for real estate brokers and small business owners in Canada but has not yet been announced. Follow Facebook's Business Blog for more information.
You can find more information on the grant program and apply here.
Areas Eligible for the Grant:
- Altoona, IA/Polk County
- Ashburn, VA/Loudoun County
- Atlanta, GA/Fulton County
- Austin, TX/Travis County
- Boston Area, MA
- Chicago, IL/Cook County
- Dallas, TX/Dallas County
- Denver, CO
- Detroit Area, MI
- Eagle Mountain, UT/Utah County
- Forest City, NC/Rutherford County
- Fort Worth, TX/Tarrant County
- Huntsville, AL/Madison County
- Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
- Los Lunas, NM/Valencia County
- Miami, FL/Miami-Dade County
- New Albany, OH/Franklin County
- New York Metropolitan Area
- Newton County Area, GA
- Northridge, CA
- Papillon, NE/Sarpy County
- Pittsburgh, PA/Allegheny County
- Prineville, OR/Crook County
- Redmond, WA
- Richmond Area, VA/Henrico County
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Seattle, WA/King County
- Washington D.C.