Aside from the loan and other financial components contained in the pending federal CARES Act, a number of states and cities are also looking to create and fund business loan programs to help get the economy back on track. Toward that end, 10 days ago the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan program was launched for companies whose cash flows have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Small business owners with two to 100 employees can apply for up to $50,000 in short term interest-free loans through May 8. The program, funded with $50 million, will be administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (866-737-7232) in partnership with the Florida Small Business Development Center Network and Florida First Capital Finance Corp. Likewise, in North Carolina, the Golden Leaf Foundation partnered with the NC Rural Center to launch the NC COVID-19 Rapid Recovery Loan Program earlier this week. This loan program also offers zero interest loans up to $50,000 with no payments for six months, subsequently converting to 5.5% interest term loans amortized over 48 months. Similarly, the state of Massachusetts is providing $10 million in funding for the Small Business Recovery Loan Fund. The program offers emergency capital of up to $75,000 to Massachusetts-based businesses impacted by COVID-19. The program, which will be limited to companies with fewer than 50 full and part-time employees, will be administered by the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation.