WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury Department said Friday afternoon the initial success of the Paycheck Protection Program makes it imperative that funding is approved for it to continue.
Money for the $349 billion program to assist small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ran out Thursday.
Congressional leaders, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, are attempting to reach agreement on additional funding. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, said no progress was made Thursday, and the Senate was adjourned until next week.
"The Paycheck Protection Program is saving millions of American jobs and helping small businesses get through this challenging time," according to the statement issued by SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Mnuchin. "We urge Congress to protect millions more American workers and their families by appropriating additional funding to support PPP."
In just under two weeks, the SBA said more than 1.6 million small businesses in all 50 states and territories received payroll assistance in forgivable loans. Nearly 5,000 lenders took part, with about 20% of the loans approved by lenders with fewer than $1 billion in assets and about 60% approved by banks with $10 billion or fewer in assets. No lender accounted for more than 5% of the total dollar amount of the program.
"The vast majority of these loans — 74% of them — were for under $150,000, demonstrating the accessibility of this program to even the smallest of small businesses," according to the statement.
The SBA also announced Thursday that it would not accept any more Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications. The low-interest EIDL offered up to $10,000 to businesses experiencing a temporary revenue loss. Both programs were offered to qualified small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Businesses applying for the EIDL in certain industries may have more than 500 employees if they meet the SBA's size standards for those industries.
The Paycheck Protection Program loans are forgivable if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities.
PeopleForBikes, which has held three webinars in the past few weeks to provide loan information for retailers, said Thursday they should ensure their PPP and EIDL materials are ready to submit when new loans and grants become available.
