The economy is doing well, at least: much better than predicted not long ago. The dent made by the corona crisis seems to be not too bad. That's great news, of course. But not by a long shot for everyone. More and more economists are saying that the government doesn't need to put together an additional recovery plan at all, that the economy will bounce itself back.
I think that a generalization denies the bottlenecks. In specific areas it is in fact very necessary to implement recovery stimulus measures, although these do not have to come from 'The Hague'. Companies in the hospitality and tourism industry, for example, have been hit so hard that - despite the peak they are now experiencing - they will not simply recover.
And there is another group at risk in this regard: that of startups, early-stage entrepreneurs and innovative SMEs. For them, the money to invest in the early phase of their business or innovation was not there for the taking anyway. After the corona crisis, that situation did not improve. Many of the startups and SMEs that took out a Corona Bridging Loan (COL) need more time to repay. That's saying a lot.
There are funds that exist to make early-stage investments and to help innovative SMEs move forward. The SME Fund Drenthe, the Frisian Development Company (FOM), the Growth Fund of the Economic Board Groningen and the funds of the NOM are ready. They have and feel a great responsibility to assist promising entrepreneurs who do need a recovery plan.
Answer 4 simple questions to quickly find out if you may qualify for funding through NOM.