NC Governor Cooper Requests Equitable Funding for Minority-Owned Businesses in COVID-19 Emergency Aid

Raleigh -- Press Release May 19, 2020: North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper's Office -- 

Governor Roy Cooper sent a letter to the leaders of the Golden L.E.A.F. Foundation encouraging them to ensure women and minority-owned businesses receive an equitable portion of recently approved COVID-19 relief funding. Women-and-minority-owned businesses account for approximately half of all businesses in the state.

“Diverse businesses are engines for our economy, and we need to encourage their continued growth and development as we administer this much needed aid,” Governor Cooper wrote. “Given the disproportionate impact this pandemic has had on minority communities, it is more vital than ever for us to ensure that all North Carolina businesses have equal access to these funds.”

The Golden L.E.A.F. Foundation is managing the distribution of $125 million in loans for businesses that are struggling as a result of COVID-19 that was included in the recently passed 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act. The law allocating that funding states that historically underutilized small businesses (HUBs) benefit from equitable distribution of relief funding.

Read Gov. Cooper’s letter to the Golden Leaf Foundation