In the midst of the ongoing novel coronavirus global pandemic, Salem Mayor, Justin Green, is encouraging businesses to apply for newly announced assistance programs through the Federal CARES Act and to remind residents of the importance of following Governor Eric Holcomb’s stay-at-home order.
“I know families and businesses are struggling as we disrupt our daily lives to ensure our own health and safety and that of others, but I do want to continue to encourage us all to look out for each other. I want to, again, stress the importance of taking the
Governor’s order to heart and to take it seriously. The programs that have been put in place by the state and federal government should help get us through the next several weeks and I hope citizens will take advantage of them,” said Green.
Green says he is optimistic these programs will begin to provide relief quickly. For instance, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation recently announced several resources available to small business owners, including Federal Paycheck Protection
Loans and Small Business Administration Disaster Loans.
“Under the paycheck protection loans, Salem and Indiana businesses can apply for up to eight weeks of cash-flow assistance. If these companies maintain their payroll during
this period, the portion of the loans used to cover payroll costs, interest on mortgage obligations, rent and utilities would be forgiven. Programs like these, can be a saving grace right now,” said Green.
Additional programs include the SBA disaster loans, which allow small business owners to apply for a loan advance of up to $10,000, and SBA debt relief which will forgive six
(6) months of payments on existing SBA loans.
The debt relief program may be of importance to businesses who accessed these loans during the last major flood in Salem.
City of Salem 201 East Market Street, Salem, IN 47167 Ph#812-883-4265 info@cityofsalemin.com / www.cityofsalemin.com
“Even though there is no treatment for this virus and no vaccine as of today, I know Salem residents will work together by practicing social distancing and staying home until we can begin to emerge from this safely. I wanted to highlight a few of these programs that I believe can be helpful and to encourage Salem businesses to take advantage of them until we can get back to business as usual,” said Green.
In addition to the programs for businesses, there are also a variety of programs designed to help individuals and families. A full list of COVID-19 resources can be 
found at https://coronavirus.in.gov/.
