Monday, April 27, 2020
As of this morning, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications for the second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds signed into law by President Trump to support American small businesses and non-profits impacted by COVID-19.
The PPP has supported more than 1.66 million small businesses nationwide, and protected over 30 million jobs for hardworking Americans. I’m encouraged that 74.03 percent of the loans were made for under $150,000, meaning money is reaching our smallest businesses. With the additional funds appropriated by Congress, tens of millions of additional workers will benefit from this critical relief.
In Texas, SBA has approved more than $28 billion in loans to nearly 135,000 borrowers. We encourage all approved lenders to process loan applications previously submitted by eligible borrowers and disburse funds expeditiously. All eligible borrowers who need these funds should work with an approved lender to apply. Borrowers should carefully review PPP regulations and guidance and the certifications required to obtain a loan.
The Trump Administration is fully committed to ensuring that America’s workers and small businesses continue to get the resources they need to get through this challenging time.
During its initial run, the SBA was able to process more than 14 years’ worth of loans in less than 14 days.
Businesses that have accessed the program hail from a wide variety of industries, including retail, food and hospitality services, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and more.
Nearly 5,000 lenders participated in the program, including many community banks and credit unions.
With the additional funding provided by the new COVID-19 relief package, SBA will resume processing Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Advance Loan applications that are already in the queue on a first come, first-served basis. We will provide further information on the availability of the EIDL portal to receive new applications (including those from agricultural enterprises) as soon as possible.
SBA is surging about 3,500 additional temporary personnel to support the Agency’s important workload. If you are interested, visit https://www.sba.gov/page/
For additional resources, small business owners should to visit www.sba.gov/coronavirus, and please remember to follow us @SBAsouthcentral.
(Justin Crossie is the regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s South Central Region VI, serving, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.)
