WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The Small Business Administration will provide businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees an exclusive 14-day Paycheck Protection Program loan application period.
Also committing to racial and gender equity, the administration is attempting to reach low- and moderate-income, rural, urban, and other underserved areas by:
- Allowing sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed workers to receive more financial support by revising the PPP's funding formula for these categories of applicants.
- Eliminating an exclusionary PPP restriction access for small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal.
- Eliminating PPP access restrictions on small business owners who have struggled to make federal student loan payments by eliminating federal student loan debt delinquency and default as disqualifiers to participating in the PPP.
- Ensuring access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to apply for the PPP.
The exclusivity period begins Wednesday at 9 a.m. The other four changes will be implemented in the first week of March.
The latest round of COVID-19 pandemic funding that began last month authorized up to $284 billion toward job retention and certain other expenses through March 31, and by allowing certain existing borrowers to apply for a second loan.
Some of the program's highlights during the latest round include:
- For businesses with fewer than 10 employees, the share of funding is up nearly 60%.
- For businesses in rural communities, the share of funding is up nearly 30%.
- The share of funding distributed through Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions is up more than 40%.
PeopleForBikes also has been offering industry loan resources to retailers since the pandemic began in the spring.
