COVID-19 Resources & Support

Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.) released a plan for restarting the Greater New Orleans economy, and reopening businesses with a responsible and safety-first approach. The “Getting Back to Work, in the New Normal: Best Practices for Business Reopening” plan was designed to reflect current best-practices, and will evolve as new information becomes available

• The plan may be downloaded directly here.
• You can review the phased approach for reopening the GNO, Inc. office here.

Can My Business Open?

Unsure of whether your business can open? View this explainer to help understand current regulations in Louisiana.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes an important provision aimed at keeping workers employed and small businesses afloat. In order to help you see all relevant information in one place, we have consolidated documents, with a focus on the Paycheck Protection Program, into a CARES Act Binder

The “Paycheck Protection Program,” which GNO, Inc. and partners strongly advocated for, expands on the Small Business Administration’s existing 7(a) program. But, it is different in two key ways:

• The loans are made by private, local banks and CDFIs, not the SBA – ensuring speed
• The loans, if used on payroll and other operating expenses , are forgivable
• For a quick view of the 2021 Paycheck Protection Program, click here.
• First-time borrowers can access an SBA overview here.
• Second-time borrowers can access an SBA overview here.

The relief bill passed at the end of 2020 made several key changes to the Employee Retention Tax Credit for employers who closed, partially closed, or experienced significant revenue losses as a result of COVID-19. The credit aims to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll. For 2021, eligibility criteria have been eased and the amount of the credit increases.

• For a GNO, Inc. overview of the Employee Retention Tax Credit, click here.
• For a quick view of differences between 2020 and 2021, please click here.
• To access IRS information on the program, please click here.

NOTE: Legislation has changed the Employee Retention Tax Credit so that a business is receiving a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program is also eligible for the Employee Retention Tax Credit, as long as there is no “double dipping” for the same payroll and the same workers.

• NEW: GNO, Inc. Webinar: Top 10 Questions About the Payroll Protection Program
• GNO, Inc. Webinar: Top 10 Questions About the Louisiana MSRP
• GNO, Inc. Webinar: Main Street Lendig Program
• GNO, Inc. Paycheck Protection Act Webinar Video – April 1, 2020
• GNO, Inc. Webinar: Getting Back to Work, in the New Normal
• GNO, Inc. Webinar: GNO Music Industry Relief
• GNO, Inc. Webinar: From Food & Beverage to CPG – Pivoting your Food Company to Packaged Goods
• GNO, Inc., Louisiana Restaurant Association and New Orleans & Company Webinar: Help for Hospitality
  
• GNO, Inc. Ask the Expert: Coronavirus Site Selection Perspective on Economic Development Recovery

Upcoming Webinars

• See an interactive list of upcoming webinars that can help your company

Additional Resources:

• Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Mentorship Program for Small Businesses
• A consolidated guide of federal, local, and private financial resources that are available for small businesses
• Access to Bid Platform to Provide Supplies to the State of Louisiana
• New Orleans & Company Business Toolkit
• Greater New Orleans Foundation Disaster Response and Restoration Fund
• NOLA Ready Business Assistance
• New Orleans Business Alliance Gig Workers’ Relief Fund
• Louisiana Economic Development’s Resources for Impacted Businesses
• United Way of Southeast Louisiana Hospitality Cares Pandemic Fund
• Meraux Foundation COVID-19 Response Grant Program for Nonprofits
• PwC’s Covid Navigator– Assess the potential impact to your business and gauge your readiness to respond with PwC’s COVID-19 Navigator. The digital tool contains 3 sections of questions that will help you understand where you stand in the areas of: crisis management and response; workforce; operations and supply chain; finance and liquidity; tax and trade and strategy and brand – start here.
• PwC has now opened a Digital Fitnessapplication to others. The app has already been used to train more than half of our PwC staff on new technology, such as AI and blockchain, and new ways of working, such as design thinking and data visualization. We’ve now added content about COVID-19 and updates from those leading the fight against the virus. The program can help others with their own digital transformation, including teachers and parents looking for distance learning resources.
• PwC launched a biweekly CFO Pulse Survey, so finance leaders can benefit from seeing what peers are doing and planning.

• Current Job Openings to Meet Coronavirus Needs
  If you are company with urgent hiring needs, please contact Evie Poitevent Sanders at [email protected]
• Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights– The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19.

• Greater New Orleans Online Training/Continuing Education Courses, Coronavirus Era
  GNO, Inc. is supporting efforts of the region’s higher education partners during these times. To that end, we will be highlighting specific work underway in the several areas, as schools in Greater New Orleans are currently offering free and reduced training and education programs.

GNOpivot is an initiative to help regional companies move to “war-footing,” wherein they pivot their standard operations in order to make products or provide services in demand for the fight against the Coronavirus.

As our region reopens for business, companies are in need of products and services to protect their workers and customers. The GNOpivot Marketplace is an online platform for purchasing PPE, signage, digital services and more. The full catalog of products can be accessed at gnopivot.org.

GNO, Inc. has spearheaded the New Orleans Music Economy, an initiative with a vision for New Orleans to have both the brand of America’s premier music city and a thriving music economy that provides jobs and wealth to support musicians, IP managers, publishers, marketers, legal representatives, and all other aspects of the business of music. This will sustain our artists and keep them here, and will create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in wealth to benefit the Greater New Orleans region. Through the New Orleans Music Economy Initiative, New Orleans will capture the value of its musical culture and re-invest it at home.

Learn more about the program from our Executive Summary.

• Contemporary Arts Center
• COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources
• Culture Aid Nola
• Culturalyst
• Gayle Benson Community Assistance Fund
• Hospitality Cares Pandemic Response Fund
• Jazz Foundation of America Musicians’ Emergency Fund
• Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans
• MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund
• Musicians Foundation
• New Orleans Business Alliance Relief Fund
• New Orleans Musician’s Clinic
• Preservation Hall
• Sweet Relief Musicians Fund