Community Corner
Bensalem Businessman's Group Offers Cash To PA Businesses
The nonprofit provides forgivable loans up to $3,000 for small Pennsylvania businesses that are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
BENSALEM, PA — A group founded, in part, by a Bensalem businessman is offering grants for small businesses in Pennsylvania struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Pennsylvania 30-Day Fund was founded after the first coronavirus shutdown in the spring by a group including Jeff Brown, president and CEO of Brown's Super Stores, Inc., which owns 12 groceries including the ShopRite of Bensalem, at 2200 Bristol Rd.
Since then, the nonprofit group has raised roughly $2.6 million, according to Brown, and awarded about 700 forgivable loans, which amount to grants, to small businesses in Bucks County and elsewhere.
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Speaking to Bensalem Mayor Joe DiGirolamo on "The Mayor's Show," Brown said the typical forgivable loan from the group is $3,000.
"When COVID shut down so many businesses everywhere, I worried about that ... ," said Brown. "The four of us who founded this thing, our businesses weren't shut down. That's a blessing and we thought we should take that blessing and make it a blessing for other people."
Find out what's happening in Bensalemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
To be eligible for money from the fund, a business must employ between three and 30 people, be based in Pennsylvania and have been operating for at least a year and be owned and operated by a Pennsylvania resident.
Applicants tend to receive a decision in three to five days, according to Brown. To apply, they are asked to fill out an online form and submit a brief video about the business and its employees.
While businesses are not asked to pay back the loans, any who choose to do so when things get better are encouraged to donate the money back to the fund so it can help other businesses, Brown said.
The group hopes to help more businesses in Bensalem and elsewhere and is continuing to raise money for the fund, according to Brown.
"We went to people who are doing OK during the shutdown and we're saying, 'Let's help the people who are not doing OK, because what would our communities be like if all these small businesses go out of business?' " Brown said.
Take a look at Brown's interview with DiGirolamo in the video below:
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