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Earlier this year, EIG released an issue brief exploring the proliferation of non-compete and no-poach agreements and their impact on workers and the U.S. economy. "The Use, Abuse, and Enforceability of Non-Compete and No-Poach Agreements," was authored by University of Maryland Smith School of Business Professor Evan Starr, one of the nation's leading experts on employee mobility, entrepreneurship, and innovation. The paper brought the debate fully current, incorporating the latest empirical evidence and policy developments.

• Non-competes are increasingly pervasive: One in five employees, or approximately 32 million Americans, are currently bound by a non-compete. In total, 38 percent of workers have signed at least one non-compete agreement in the past.
• No-poach agreements have proliferated too: No-poach agreements cover nearly 60 percent of major franchises in the United States today, up from 36 percent in 1996.
• Non-competes enforcement hurts worker wages: Workers in states that enforce non-competes earn less than equivalent workers in states that do not enforce them.
• Non-competes reduce entrepreneurship: Greater enforceability of non-competes reduces new firm entry by 18 percent. The firms that do start tend to have fewer employees at launch and are more likely to die in their first 3 years. Ones that survive still tend to remain smaller for their first 5 years. The threat of enforcement appears to particularly dampen entrepreneurship among women.
• Non-competes deter workers from finding better opportunities: Workers bound by a non-compete stay in their jobs 11 percent longer with no offsetting increase in pay or satisfaction.
• Non-competes likely slow the pace of innovation: Non-competes obstruct the flow of knowledge by restricting the churn of workers among firms. They make venture capital less effective in spurring new patents and job growth.
• Negotiations are rarely balanced or transparent: Less than 10 percent of workers negotiate over the terms of the non-compete. When asked to sign a non-compete, 93 percent of workers simply read and sign. Thirty to forty percent of workers who are asked to sign non-competes are first asked after they have already accepted the job.
• Non-competes are inefficient: Eleven percent of those who sign one are forced to find work in a different industry after they leave their job.

• A Map of Investments into Opportunity Zones
• A Map of Funds formed to channel capital into Opportunity Zones
• A Map of Initiatives at the state and local levels that adapt Opportunity Zones to local priorities 

• The Tappan in Cleveland, OH
• Ox Fibre Apartments in Frederick, MD
• Parramore Oaks in Orlando, FL

The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) recently launched the Neighborhood Poverty Project with two reports analyzing the spread and persistence of high-poverty neighborhoods throughout the United States over the last four decades.  The research finds that while the last national economic expansion brought growth and prosperity to many areas, it failed to reverse the spread of high-poverty neighborhoods the country has experienced going back to 1980.

On May 13th, the authors of the report will host a webinar to discuss the project's findings and the implications for the policy responses to COVID-19's economic fallout. Joining them in the discussion are Alan Mallach and Alan Berube. Alan Mallach is a senior fellow at the Center for Community Progress in Washington, D.C., and author of The Divided City. A city planner, advocate, and writer, he is nationally known for his work on housing, economic development, and urban revitalization. Alan Berube is a senior fellow and deputy director at the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and coauthor of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America. He has also authored dozens of publications on economic and demographic trends in metropolitan areas and the role of cities in a globalizing economy.

Join us Wednesday, May 13, 2020, from 1:00 - 2:30 pm ET. 

Visit EIG's website to read our latest reports, The Expanded Geography of High-Poverty Neighborhoods and The Persistence of Neighborhood Poverty, and explore our interactive map of high-poverty neighborhoods across the United States.

A tidal wave of insolvency is about to crash on the American small business community, and Congress is running out of time to stop it.

The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) released a policy proposal to offer emergency lending to small businesses affected by the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The proposal, authored by EIG's President and CEO John Lettieri and Upwork Chief Economist and EIG Economic Advisory Board member Adam Ozimek, would address the liquidity and solvency problems small businesses will encounter as the fallout from the public health crisis continues in the months ahead. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is already having a devastating toll on the American economy. As drastic measures are taken to prevent the further spread of the virus, small businesses - which employ nearly half of the American workforce - are suffering dramatic effects. "Without swift and decisive action, a tidal wave of closures will hit the small business community and unleash far-reaching consequences throughout the economy that may be difficult to undo," write Ozimek and Lettieri.

As policymakers consider potential policies in response to this crisis, they must be mindful of the unprecedented collapse in new business formation sparked by the Great Recession, and the urgent need to ensure Main Street businesses can weather the current economic downturn and emerge ready to drive a rapid, bottom-up recovery.

This week, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Angus King (I-ME) introduced legislation to strengthen young businesses across the country. EIG released the following statement on the legislation:

"New businesses are essential to the health and vitality of the U.S. economy," said EIG Vice President Chris Slevin. "The New Business Preservation Act can help to address the disproportional vulnerability of new businesses to this economic crisis by stimulating private investment in entrepreneurs and startups often overlooked by investors. We applaud Senators Amy Klobuchar, Chris Coons, Angus King, and Tim Kaine for their forward-looking leadership on this important issue. This effort builds on successful federal-state partnerships that have supported thousands of businesses across the country, and should be included in Congress' response to this economic crisis."

• Congress Improves the Paycheck Protection Program - June 4, 2020
   
• EIG Urges Passage of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act - May 28, 2020
   
• Leading Business Groups Call on Congress to Fix the Paycheck Protection Program - April 21, 2020
   
• The Paycheck Protection Program Needs Fundamental Improvements, Not Just More Funding - April 16, 2020
   
• Understanding the Paycheck Protection Program - March 26, 2020
   
• Policy responses to the Great Recession failed entrepreneurs; We can't make that mistake again - March 25, 2020

Momentum is building for a long-term, low-interest loan program that would provide small businesses with a level of working capital needed to weather the prolonged economic crisis caused by COVID-19. EIG, along with 28 business advocacy organizations representing a diverse range of hard-hit industries, sent a letter to Congress in support of a proposal by U.S. Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to establish a Recovery Sector Loan Program, which was included in the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act. The letter outlines recommendations to ensure wider access to the program for small businesses facing insolvency, closure, and decreased consumer demand. 

The Recovery Sector Loan Program closely mirrors EIG's Main Street Rescue and Resiliency Program released near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reflects the principles for small business relief we recommended to Congress alongside leading industry and policy organizations this past June.

Even before the pandemic's recent acceleration, U.S. Census Bureau surveys showed that a clear majority of small businesses did not expect to resume normal operations for at least six months, if ever. While the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was intended for short-term relief in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, the new 7(a) Recovery Sector Loan proposal would offer 20-year, one-percent interest loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees located in certain low-income communities, which have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and economic downturn. 

We are pleased Congress has considered many of our recommendations, and will continue to work with policymakers over the coming weeks to expand this proposal to support a wider array of small businesses nationwide. To get involved in this collective effort, please reach out to Catherine Lyons, Manager of Policy and Coalitions, at catherine@eig.org. 

An In-Depth Look at the Communities Targeted in the Recovery Sector Loan Program

Meet the low-income communities eligible for powerful new small business relief in the Rubio-Collins Phase IV proposal

August Benzow, Kenan Fikri, and Daniel Newman - July 30, 2020

Our latest analysis takes a close look at the demographic and economic composition of the low-income communities targeted by Senators Rubio and Collins' proposed 7(a) Recovery Sector Loan Program. We find that the program would reach two-thirds of the country's majority-Black neighborhoods and half of its majority-Hispanic ones, and direct loans to the most heavily-affected communities in the current crisis.

While there is a strong case for broadening eligibility for this enhanced 7(a) program, the Rubio-Collins proposal is rooted in providing assistance to communities and small businesses that are experiencing the strongest headwinds in the current crisis, which is important and worth commending.

Read EIG''s Analysis of and Recommendations for Small Business Relief

How to Rescue Main Street From Coronavirus Before It's Too Late
March 18, 2020

Taking the Pulse of America's Small Business Sector: June 26th
June 26, 2020

Coalition of Leading Business and Policy Groups Call for New Phase of Small Business Relief
July 1, 2020

EIG Applauds U.S. Senate's New Small Business Relief Proposal, Inclusion of Long-term Small Business Lending Program
July 27, 2020

Weekly Update on COVID-19's Impact on Business Formation and Entrepreneurship
July 30, 2020

Vox
America needs a bar and restaurant bailout
Matthew Yglesias - August 4, 2020

Forbes
Senate Proposed Loan Guaranty Program Offers Better Long-Term Relief Than PPP
Brian Thompson - July 28, 2020

Bloomberg
White America Got a Head Start on Small-Business Virus Relief
Jason Grotto, Zachary R. Mider and Cedric Sam - July 30, 2020

Politico
New GOP small business rescue plan sparks lobbying fight
Zachary Warmbrodt - July 27, 2020

Niskanen Center
Bipartisan group applauds landmark reforms to Small Business Investment Companies in Phase IV relief bill
Press Release - July 27, 2020

Today, the Economic Innovation Group released the Distressed Communities Index (DCI), a timely research project that maps community well-being across the country down to the zip code scale. The report entitled, "The Spaces Between Us: The Evolution of American Communities in the New Century," is accompanied by a digital mapping interactive that allows users to explore all of the data included in the DCI across zip codes, counties, and congressional districts. 

The DCI is designed to be a lens through which to evaluate where and for whom the country truly lives up to its promise as a land of opportunity. The Index sorts communities into five tiers (distressed, at risk, mid-tier, comfortable, and prosperous) using seven distinct economic indicators, enabling us to better understand the spatial distribution of U.S. economic well-being, and to examine how communities have evolved over time.

The events of this year have provided a series of sobering reminders that the terms of the American experience are too often dictated by race, place, and inequality. Those themes are at the heart of the new report. Our analysis looks back to the year 2000 to examine the arc of community well-being thus far in the 21st century. We find that while the U.S. has made significant progress towards more inclusive prosperity in thriving areas, national economic growth has fundamentally failed to raise the floor of well-being for the country''s most vulnerable people and communities.

More than just a research project, previous iterations of the DCI have been put to use by state and local governments, federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and academics across the country. From foundations targeting support to small businesses in vulnerable communities during the economic crisis to academics striving to better understand the social determinants of health, the DCI provides far-reaching insight into how - and where - we live. And at a time of national crisis, we hope this edition will be a resource to policymakers as they target emergency relief and lay the groundwork for a broad-based recovery that can truly reach the 50 million Americans living in distressed communities nationwide.

• On measures of income, poverty, joblessness, and vacancy, the typical distressed zip code remained just as far behind the typical prosperous zip code in 2018 as it was in 2000.

• At 50.5 million, the number of Americans living in distressed communities held constant even as the country's population grew significantly. 

• A plurality of Americans (82.4 million) call prosperous zip codes home, but population increased fastest in the mid-tier category.

• Zip codes that were prosperous in 2000 gained 8.7 million jobs between 2000 and 2018, generating nearly 62 percent of total U.S. job growth over the period. 

• Meanwhile, zip codes that were distressed at the turn of the century lost jobs on net between 2000 and 2018. Numbers of jobs and businesses in distressed communities even fell from 2014 to 2018, deep into the national recovery from the Great Recession.

• Community-level advantages and disadvantages tend to perpetuate over time. Two-thirds of zip codes that ranked as prosperous in 2000 were prosperous in 2018. Likewise, two-thirds of zip codes that were distressed at the turn of the century remained so.

• The total population of prosperous urban zip codes doubled from 2000 to 2018 as well-being improved in several cities and the country's urban geography expanded, especially in the West. These advances were uneven, however, as the number of prosperous zip codes flatlined or declined across 61 of the country's 100 largest cities.

• The share of the country's urban population residing in distressed zip codes fell from 34.3 percent to 21.7 percent over the period-still slightly edging out the other quintiles. Meanwhile the share of rural Americans living in distressed zip codes rose to 23.6 percent.

• In the West, 53.4 percent of the population resides in a prosperous or comfortable zip code, a greater share than in any other region. It displaced the Midwest, which led in American economic well-being in 2000 but now trails even the Northeast.

• The minority share of the population in prosperous zip codes jumped from 16.3 percent to 26.9 percent between 2000 and 2018 and declined slightly in the distressed quintile to 56.4 percent, still leaving communities of color significantly overrepresented at the bottom.

• The share of the country's Black population living in distressed zip codes declined from 45.6 percent in 2000 to 35.3 percent in 2018. But in the Midwest, fully half of the Black population still lives in distressed communities.

• Racial inequality is observed at every level of community well-being, but especially in distressed areas, where the median income (MHI) for the typical Black household was only 66 percent that of the typical white household. Across every quintile, the typical Black MHI fell as a share of white MHI between 2000 and 2018.

• An overwhelming 70 percent of majority-Black zip codes are distressed, compared to 20 percent of zip codes nationally and 16 percent of majority-white zip codes. Only 19 majority-Black zip codes rank as prosperous on the DCI. 

Results and Analysis: 2020 Distressed Communities Index 

Join the Economic Innovation Group on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 2:00 p.m. ET for a webinar on the findings from the Distressed Communities Index. Panelists from EIG will demonstrate how the DCI provides crucial context for how to focus efforts to ensure the COVID-19 recovery is more inclusive than the recovery from the Great Recession. 

Join the Economic Innovation Group (EIG) for a moderated discussion with EIG Economic Advisors Austan Goolsbee and Kenneth Rogoff on the current economic situation and lessons from the recent past for mitigating the fallout from COVID-19 and setting the country on a path for a strong, dynamic, and inclusive recovery.

Join us on Thursday, May 21, from 1:00 pm to 2:00pm ET

Dr. Kenneth Rogoff is a Professor of Economics and the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. A leading scholar of financial crises, Rogoff is formerly Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund and author of "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly."

Dr. Austan Goolsbee is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and a member of President Obama''s cabinet from 2010 to 2011.

Friends -

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the heart of our communities, and the economic fallout from the pandemic has imperilled them like nothing prior in our lifetimes. More than one million business owners have disappeared since February. Small Business Administration data from July reminds us that Black entrepreneurs remain the face of the crisis: their numbers are down 18.4 percent relative to this time last year, a loss that is three times steeper, relatively, than for whites (-6.2 percent). Alarmingly, a majority of small businesses do not expect operations to return to normal levels for at least six months, if ever, according to the latest Census Bureau Small Business Pulse Survey. 

With nearly one-third of small businesses reporting revenue declines in mid-August, the crisis appears to be entering a perilous new phase that will threaten the survival of millions of small businesses. But Congress has not only failed to enact a small business relief program that matches the scale of this threat, it has allowed the primary relief program, the Paycheck Protection Program, to expire for weeks on end. 

EIG has worked throughout the crisis to deliver timely analysis of unfolding economic conditions and advance policy solutions to address the challenges prompted by COVID-19. As Congress returns from August recess, we will work with partners across the country to renew our push for the resources small businesses need to adapt and survive the difficult months ahead.

Below are highlights from our recent work on the small business crisis. To get involved in this effort, please reach out to us at info@eig.org.

Best,

John

Unpacking the Small Business Pulse Survey data

After a six-week hiatus, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data on the condition of the country's small business sector as this unprecedented economic crisis unfolds. The data highlights a small business sector in dire need of Congressional action toward long-term relief. EIG continues to monitor the weekly release of this data, publishing key takeaways on our blog every Friday. 

Major takeaways from the last two weeks include: 

• Demonstrating a need for continued relief, 25 percent of small businesses expect they will need to obtain financial assistance or additional capital in the next six months for their business to stay afloat. Roughly one in 20 businesses surveyed expects to have to close permanently in the next six months. 

• More firms are firing than hiring. Across all respondents, 11 percent of small businesses decreased the number of paid employees in the week of August 16th, while only 7 percent increased the number of employees on their payroll. The same pattern holds in employee hours. 

• Stagnating and declining revenues across businesses indicate that the small business recovery is stalling. Revenues fell again for nearly one-third of responding businesses the week of August 16th and only 9 percent of firms reported revenue increases, down significantly from the 20 percent that enjoyed recovering receipts at the end of June. The stalled fight against the virus appears to be leaving the majority of small businesses in a holding pattern, however, as 58 percent of respondents saw no change in revenues over the week. 

• One out of every five responding businesses is operating at less than 50 percent capacity relative to a year ago. A majority of businesses surveyed remain below max operating capacity with 20 percent of businesses experiencing a 50 percent or more drop in operating capacity. On the flip side, only 7 percent of respondents had expanded operating capacity, a striking indicator of stalling growth in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• The online transition is limited. While much attention has been paid to the shift of white collar employees to working from home, 53 percent of respondents to the survey reported having no employees who worked from home during the week of August 16th. The high percentage suggests just how challenging it is for many segments of the economy and workforce to go online. Only 1 in 4 businesses report increasing their use of online platforms to offer goods and services since March, implying that the nation's small business sector has only partially adjusted to the new normal. 

• Fewer than 1 in 5 businesses have been able to weather the pandemic without seeking some form of assistance. Around three quarters of businesses requested assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) while more than 25 percent have sought Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). More than 1 in 10 businesses have turned to some form of self-financing, a higher percentage than have used state and local government programs or banks outside of a federal program. 

Read EIG''s Analysis of and Recommendations for Small Business Relief

Coalition of Leading Business and Policy Groups Call for New Phase of Small Business Relief
July 1, 2020

EIG Applauds U.S. Senate's New Small Business Relief Proposal, Inclusion of Long-term Small Business Lending Program
July 27, 2020

Meet the low-income communities eligible for powerful new small business relief in the Rubio-Collins Phase IV proposal
July 30, 2020

New York Times
Small-Business Failures Loom as Federal Aid Dries Up
Ben Casselman - September 1, 2020

New York Times
Airline Job Cuts Could Pressure Congress and Trump on Stimulus
Jim Tankersley - August 24, 2020

New York Times
Why Trump's Approval Ratings on the Economy Remain Durable
Niraj Chokshi and Ben Casselman - August 25, 2020

Hawaii Public Radio
Businesses Plead For Help From Congress, But Current Relief Program Is Lacking
Ryan Finnerty- August 11, 2020

Vox
America needs a bar and restaurant bailout
Matthew Yglesias - August 4, 2020

Virginia Economic Review
The Future of Small Business Depends on Adaptivity
John Lettieri - July 2020

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, EIG has been a leading voice on how American small businesses are being affected and what policymakers should do in response.

EIG has been particularly active in providing a variety of resources and analysis on the Paycheck Protection Program, the flagship federal small business relief program enacted in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide low-interest and partially forgivable loans for small businesses adversely affected by the pandemic. Early on in the program''s life, EIG issued a set of recommended improvements to the program that were widely endorsed by organizations representing industries most deeply impacted by the financial crisis. Since then, the recommendations have been incorporated into a flurry of new legislation aimed at ensuring the program is of greater use to deeply affected businesses, including the House-passed Heroes Act, the PPP Deadline Extension Adjustment for Loans (DEAL) Act by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Mitt Romney (R-UT), and the PPP Flexibility Act by Reps. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Chip Roy (R-TX).

EIG is pleased to see Congress consider many of these recommendations. However, while PPP is an important program that has provided support to millions of businesses, Congress must also adopt longer-term solutions to support entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the prolonged period of economic disruption and uncertainty that lies ahead.

• Leading Business Groups Call on Congress to Fix the Paycheck Protection Program - April 21, 2020
   
• The Paycheck Protection Program Needs Fundamental Improvements, Not Just More Funding - April 16, 2020
   
• Understanding the Paycheck Protection Program - March 26, 2020
   
• Policy responses to the Great Recession failed entrepreneurs; We can't make that mistake again - March 25, 2020

In the early days of the crisis, EIG released a proposal to offer emergency lending to small businesses affected by the current economic crisis. Authored by EIG's President and CEO John Lettieri and Upwork Chief Economist and EIG Economic Advisory Board member Adam Ozimek, this program would address the liquidity and solvency problems that small businesses will encounter as the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis continues. 

On Thursday, May 21, EIG will host a discussion on the economic crisis with two members of its Economic Advisory Board, Austan Goolsbee and Kenneth Rogoff. Drawing on lessons from the Great Recession, Goolsbee and Rogoff will share insights on the federal response to COVID-19 thus far, and offer their recommendations on how to set the country on a path to a strong and inclusive recovery. 

Join us on Thursday, May 21, from 1:00 pm to 2:00pm ET for this discussion.

New businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy. They help keep the economy in a constant state of rebirth, replace dying industries, foster competition with incumbent companies, and produce new, higher-wage jobs. Minority and women-owned businesses, underrepresented but growing segments of the entrepreneur population, face structural challenges in starting and growing their companies. Join us for a discussion about COVID-19''s impact on American entrepreneurship and how policies like the New Business Preservation Act can support entrepreneurial ecosystems and minority and women-owned businesses across the nation to promote a more resilient and inclusive U.S. economy.

Hear from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) about the New Business Preservation Act, new legislation introduced to strengthen promising young and minority and women-owned businesses, followed by a panel discussion with Donna Harris (Venture Partner at Praxis and Founder of Builders + Backers), Eric Cromwell (Founding Member of Cromwell Schmisseur LLC), Jennifer Tegan (Managing Director of New York Ventures) and Ken Morris (Founder and CEO of KnectIQ), moderated by Chris Slevin (Vice President of the Economic Innovation Group).

Join us on September 17 from 1:00 pm to 2:15 pm ET. #EIGLive

The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) recently launched the Neighborhood Poverty Project with two new reports analyzing the spread and persistence of high-poverty neighborhoods throughout the United States over the last four decades.  The research finds that while the last national economic expansion brought growth and prosperity to many areas, it failed to reverse the spread of high-poverty neighborhoods the country has experienced going back to 1980.

On May 13th, the authors of the report will host a webinar to discuss the project''s findings and the implications for the policy responses to COVID-19''s economic fallout. Joining them in the discussion are Alan Mallach and Alan Berube. Alan Mallach is a senior fellow at the Center for Community Progress in Washington, D.C., and author of The Divided City. A city planner, advocate, and writer, he is nationally known for his work on housing, economic development, and urban revitalization. Alan Berube is a senior fellow and deputy director at the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and coauthor of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America. He has also authored dozens of publications on economic and demographic trends in metropolitan areas and the role of cities in a globalizing economy.

Join us Wednesday, May 13, 2020, from 1:00 - 2:30 pm ET. 

Visit EIG''s website to read our latest reports, The Expanded Geography of High-Poverty Neighborhoods and The Persistence of Neighborhood Poverty, and explore our interactive map of high-poverty neighborhoods across the United States.

Friends -

Five years ago, EIG launched as a new breed of policy organization dedicated to forging a more dynamic and inclusive American economy. Our inaugural event, "Rethinking Economic Renewal," brought together a bipartisan group of policymakers and leading experts around a shared goal: to ensure that the national economic recovery reached every corner of the map. That event set the tone for what would follow, as EIG worked with a diverse set of partners to advance a new generation of policies so that American workers, entrepreneurs, and communities everywhere have a chance to thrive. 

Our work is just beginning. As the country navigates a period of deep economic disruption and uncertainty, EIG is working closely with policymakers to respond to the crisis and lay the groundwork for a strong recovery. In the months ahead, we will publish timely new research, forge new partnerships, and launch new initiatives to strengthen the resiliency of the economy. As we prepare for the next chapter, we are especially grateful to have worked with so many dedicated and brilliant partners all over the country. From all of us at EIG, thank you for the support, guidance, and inspiration you have given us.

All the best,
John 

Cal Harris has joined EIG as Director of Communications where he will lead EIG's communications strategy and play a key role in helping the organization advance its agenda at a critical time.

"We are excited to welcome Cal to our growing team at EIG. Cal is a gifted communicator who understands how to reach communities that are often overlooked in the Washington policy discourse," said EIG President and CEO John Lettieri. "Cal's experience and passion will help EIG expand its work on behalf of a more dynamic and inclusive American economy."

"I am excited about the opportunity to work alongside a great team at EIG that is focused on producing solutions to the economic challenges that keep countless Americans up at night," said Harris. "I believe that preserving and strengthening the American economy deserves an all-hands-on-deck effort. As communities maneuver through this current health and economic crisis, EIG's work to advance bipartisan policies on behalf of American workers, entrepreneurs, and communities is more relevant than ever."

America's small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges due to mandatory shutdowns and shelter-in-place orders around the country. Congress has responded with the new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was passed as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27. While the program represents a critical lifeline for businesses that have been deeply affected by the ongoing crisis, its shortcomings are not limited to its level of funding. EIG outlined four immediate improvements Congress should make to PPP so that it better reflects the nature of the current crisis and the needs of businesses doing their best to avoid permanent closure.

Americans living in distressed communities are about to be hit by a one-two punch from the economic and healthcare crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, distressed rural areas could face the most difficulty from this unprecedented, multifaceted crisis. Three characteristics prevalent in these communities are poised to make the impact of the new coronavirus and its economic fallout especially acute: large at-risk populations, vulnerable local economies, and weak healthcare infrastructure. As policymakers seek to counteract the health and economic impacts of the new coronavirus, the unique challenges faced by distressed and rural communities must be front of mind.