By Simon Albaugh \u2013 YAN – Detroit<\/p>\n
It should be no secret that government programs like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) are available to everyone. It\u2019s also no secret that a lot of organizations have been taking advantage of programs like the PPP.<\/p>\n
Recently, the Los Angeles Lakers, a Basketball Team estimated to be worth around $4 billion has come under criticism for applying for \u2013 and receiving \u2013 $4 million in subsidies from the federal Coronavirus relief efforts.<\/p>\n
When news broke of the Basketball Team\u2019s relief money, people were angry, to say the least. The team eventually returned the millions of dollars after the public outcry. According to a report published by CNN, the Lakers are, in fact, a small business \u2013 with less than 300 employees. They are well within the threshold set by the Small Business Administration.<\/p>\n
A lot of lawmakers have talked about oversight for this process. Legislators like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have been working to understand how organizations like the LA Lakers or the Shake Shack Corporation were able to cash in on relief efforts intended for small businesses.<\/p>\n
Wendy Thomas is Southeast Michigan Regional Director for the Michigan Small Business Development Center. Her work, and the work of the Small Business Development Center involves assisting small businesses in everything they might need to have the best chance at being successful. And no, they don\u2019t assist the Detroit Pistons.<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019 guess as to how larger organization could have access to relief money is about direct and fast-paced accounting efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that happened with the first round of federal programs is that many of those larger companies, they had, access to accountants that were one phone call away,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cAnd they had their information that was easily obtainable. But for some of our smaller business businesses, it\u2019s a little bit harder to get access or even to pull together that information. And so there was a natural delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most companies don\u2019t have access to these accounting efforts. For many small businesses, it\u2019s usually the owner who takes on these roles themselves. And so many businesses feel that they\u2019ve been left out of a program that was specifically designed for them in mind.<\/p>\n