The PA 30 Day Fund Announces it Has Distributed $1 Million to Small Businesses in Pennsylvania

June 30, 2020 (Philadelphia, PA) – The Pennsylvania 30 Day Fund today announced that it has provided $1 million in forgivable loans to more than 335 small businesses across the commonwealth. This comes less than 60 days after the nonprofit organization was founded on May 6, 2020. Over 40 percent of the businesses funded to date are minority-owned, and over 40 percent are women-owned. All have 3-30 employees, have been in business for more than a year, are for-profit, and are owned by Pennsylvania residents. Together, these small businesses directly employ over 1300 Pennsylvanians in 34 counties, and indirectly support thousands of additional jobs in our communities.

“This has been a labor of love for all of the 70-plus volunteers who have devoted themselves to helping as many Pennsylvania small businesses as possible at this most challenging time,” said Jeff Bartos co-founder and Board member of the PA 30 Day Fund. “Over the past 60 days, we have received donations ranging from $3 to a challenge grant of $1 million. Some families have donated their entire federal stimulus check, and a police officer donated $1000 to help businesses that had been damaged by looting. It has been inspiring and encouraging to see Pennsylvanians come together from across the commonwealth to support our economy’s most valuable asset: small businesses.”

The funds disbursed to small businesses by the PA 30 Day Fund do not need to be repaid. If businesses who receive the Fund’s assistance do, at a later date, wish to “pay it forward” to another Pennsylvania small business in need of assistance, they may do so by directing those dollars back to the Fund, which will disburse the funding to another Pennsylvania business in need.

“The stories of the small businesses we help move me every single day,” said Jeff Brown, Board member for the PA 30 Day Fund. “They come from small towns and big cities. Some are in business barely a year and some carry a legacy of more than 120 years. They are all staples of their communities. They are doing whatever they can to survive, reopen, reinvent, and be resilient. These business owners are the backbone of our community, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to help them.”

The nonprofit PA 30 Day Fund is led by Cassandra Bailey, Slice Communications’ CEO; Jeff Bartos, President of ESB Holdings; Roger Braunfeld, partner at Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld; Jeff Brown, CEO of the Shop Rite chain of Brown’s Superstores; Maia Comeau, public affairs consultant and CEO of Comeau and Company; Thomas Nerney, CEO of United States Liability Insurance Group; Tony Payton Jr., a partner at David Scott Partners; Richard Phillips, former Chairman and CEO of Pilot Freight Services; and Mustafa Rashed, CEO of the government relations and communications firm Bellevue Strategies.

All donations collected by the PA 30 Day Fund are given to recipient businesses without offsets, administrative fees, or any other expenses. Donations and applications can be submitted at www.PA30DayFund.com.