Greater San Fernando Chamber Joins Recovery Fund Coalition

The Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce announced Monday it has joined America’s Recovery Fund Coalition, an alliance of more than 100 trade associations and business organizations advocating for a grant-based federal assistance program for businesses. “Joining forces together with over 100 other like-minded organizations throughout the nation to create America’s Recovery Fund gives us our best opportunity to realize this goal and to galvanize our nation’s leaders to give businesses the real relief they need,” said Nancy Hoffman Vanyek, chief executive of the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce. “We refuse to leave any business behind. Support America’s Recovery Fund.” Together, the coalition’s members employ 45 percent of the nation’s workforce – more than 58 million workers. In a letter to President Donald Trump, congressional leaders and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, the coalition stated: “Existing programs like the Paycheck Protection Program were a well-intentioned effort to help defray the impact of the COVID-19 economic crisis, but we must build upon the current options and address the overwhelming need for additional capital support to businesses. A broad-based, efficient recovery fund that does not pick winners and losers is the best path forward. Without such a fund, our retailers, theatres, restaurants and many other industries will be decimated – and our communities will be poorer both economically and culturally as a result.” The letter continued: “Congress must urgently create a federal direct assistance fund to provide rapid liquidity to businesses impaired by the COVID-19 national emergency. We believe the fund should be designed to help businesses maintain ongoing capital obligations during the prolonged crisis and the next months of economic healing, enabling employees to continue receiving pay, maintain benefits and helping employers rehire former employees while workplaces get back on their feet and safely reopen to the public.”