NBC 12 | Virginia 30 Day Fund helps 100+ small businesses

In about three weeks, the Virginia 30 Day Fund has helped more than 100 small businesses in the Commonwealth. The 100th business to recieve funding is Soul Taco in Richmond.

“Yes, business has been down, but I am grateful that we are able to be here to serve anybody,” said Soul Taco owner Trey Owens.

Soul Taco has continued to sell food to go, transforming one of their dining rooms into a market place, even donating meals to medical staff. The restaurant is comitted to remaining active in the community despite the difficulties, and that is something the VA 30 Day Fund says it immediately recognized.

“It was everythng about Soul Taco and Trey as an entrepenuer, what they mean to the community in Jackson Ward,” explained Pete Snyder, VA 30 Day Fund founder.”Everything Trey has gone through and overcome and just Trey’s heart.”

Snyder says their selection committee did not hesitate to help Soul Taco. Owens says they are grateful and ready to pay their forgivable loan foward.

“We are doing a program for any service worker–if you come in with your work shirt we are doing $2 tacos if you can’t pay $2 we will give them to you for free,” said Owens.

The Virginia 30 Day Fund has given forgivable loans to more than 100 small businesses.

“We still have work to do,” explained Snyder.

[ LEARN MORE: VA 30 DAY FUND ]

The VA 30 Day Fund is a non-profit that started as an idea at the beginning of April. According to their website, the Virginia 30 Day Fund is “working with other business leaders throughout the Commonwealth, the Fund’s goal is to help save as many Virginia jobs as possible while small businesses await recently approved federal funding.”

The organization is offering forgivable loans of up to $3,000 to businesses that apply and have their application approved.

Virginia businesses that qualify for assistance from the Fund are:

• Small businesses that employ three to 30 people;
• Based in Virginia and have been operating for at least one year;
• Owned and operated by a Virginia resident.

“The funds dispersed to small businesses by the Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia business in need,” the organization wrote online.

Snyder and his wife Burson put up $100,000 of their own money to get the fund started. The VA 30 Day Fund has a goal of helping 1,000 businesses.

“I will not give up, I am born and raised in Richmond, I went to Richmond Public Schools, people need to see that someone from Richmond is here [for them] and doing, and I will be that guy.”