Senate Passes the CARES Act

The US Senate just passed the CARES Act, or what is commonly known as the Phase III COVID-19 economic stimulus package. The bill includes many things (here is a good summary), but 3 things in particular will help the cider industry.

• It puts cash directly in the pockets of most Americans
• It extends unemployment and expands it to include sole proprietors and contractors
• It funds small business loans to cover payroll support, mortgage payments, insurance premiums and other debt obligations. Loans used for these qualified purposes may be forgiven

We are working around the clock to address the challenges you are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to remove barriers that will make it difficult for cideries to continue operating as normally as possible as soon as possible. We’ve been working with regulators and lobbying Congress to get you the relief that you need.

It’s believed that an additional stimulus package may come together in a couple months to address certain specific industry needs, hopefully including ours. We have champions and political power because we create manufacturing jobs and agriculture is core to our being. We are Main Street.