I would like to wish everyone a happy belated Easter and Passover holidays.
I hope you and your colleagues have been able to take advantage of DSA’s ongoing series of webinars on issues impacting every aspect of your business from meeting planning to supply chain disruptions. I have been in regular communication with the Board of Directors and Association leadership gathering insights that will help guide future enhanced education offerings.
As your Washington, D.C.-based trade association, we know you put great value in our advocacy and analysis of complex government actions and how these can impact your day-to-day operations.
DSA hosted a
Webinar on April 2 exploring the recently-passed
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act, passed by Congress on March 27, 2020 provided expanded resources for companies and independent contractors including the
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and expanded unemployment insurance.
We would like to hear if you or your salesforce has been able to access these benefits to help inform our data collection and advocacy going forward—companies will not be identified.
The
United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is responsible for approving loans through the PPP. DSA has been working with the SBA for many years to amend agency guidance that prohibits lending to multi-level marketing companies. However, it remains unclear how the agency defines multi-level marketing. Companies and salespeople should still apply for loans through the PPP if they deem appropriate. We would be interested in hearing your experience with this program as it will be helpful in our advocacy on this issue going forward.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been constantly updating a special page on our website to provide advocacy resources on government actions as more guidance is issued. This can be found
here, at the DSA COVID 19 Policy Insights page on DSA.org.
We just added a
Frequently Asked Question: Unemployment Benefits to assist in your understanding of these expanded programs.
Information for PPP Borrowers is also linked on the site—these programs opened on April 3, 2020 for small businesses and April 10, 2020 for independent contractors.
DSA also worked with the Government Relations Committee and is advocating for proposals in the next Congressional stimulus package to further help companies and salesforce members. Click
here to view DSA’s letter sent to Capitol Hill today, April 13, 2020.
The site also contains a constantly updated list of state actions relating to non-essential businesses and manufacturing as well as template letters for you to send to state/local officials and the salesforce regarding these actions.
I hope these are helpful and answer a lot of your questions as you navigate this new and complex economic landscape. We are here to help. Please contact me or
Vice President of Government Affairs & Policy Brian Bennett if you have any questions. Stay safe and healthy.
Joseph N. Mariano