Here’s what we’re doing to support small businesses impacted by COVID-19.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses have taken a big hit. Now, many continue to face hurdles as they work to recover from the impact of cash flow constraints, reduced operating hours, new regulations, and evolving customer preferences.
“It was been an incredibly challenging year. It’s nothing like we’ve ever seen before, especially for small businesses. Small businesses have been hit hard,” says Brett Shaffer, Head of Community Relations at Regions. “Our team at Regions asked, ‘How can we really pool our resources, our talent, and our engagement together to make a positive impact in our community and take responsibility for an issue that we believe we can help solve?’”
Quick To Help
For Regions, it wasn’t only important to help our customers and communities — it was important to help quickly. Just four days after Shaffer and his team left the office in March 2020, the Regions Foundation announced its $2.5 million commitment to fund grants for small business relief and recovery related to COVID-19.
As of October 23, 2020, Regions Bank and the Regions Foundation had allocated more than $4.5 million to 255 organizations offering support in the form of technical assistance, grants, emergency loans, loan forbearance, and more.
“Small businesses are asking, ‘How do we keep the doors open?’” Shaffer explains. “We’re seeing that they need technical support, advice, guidance, and education to get through times like this. They need someone to really guide them and help them find available resources.”
Partnering Local
To distribute the funding, Regions partnered with its existing network of community partners and nonprofits. “We’ve distributed these funds to partners that we knew were going to be effective in turning the dollars into tangible help on the ground for our struggling small businesses,” Shaffer says.
According to Shaffer, Regions understands that small businesses have unique needs. “With every small business, it’s going to look a little bit different, but we’re not going to change our priorities,” he says. “We’re going to listen and take a more local approach. That helps us make a bigger impact and stay meaningful to our local communities.”
Shaffer says that in times of crisis, the human touch can go a long way. “Our bankers have worked very hard to make sure they’re reaching out and offering advice, guidance, and education to our customers, or to just listen,” he says. “Small businesses are such a key part of our strong communities. When we empower people to build successful companies, that creates more successful communities.”
Explore Regions Bank’s resources for small businesses, including information about financial assistance for those impacted by COVID-19.
