From our news sources
WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration are opening up the Paycheck Protection Program for two weeks exclusively for small businesses–women-owned, minority-owned, low- and moderate-income, rural, and other underserved communities.
New policy changes hope to further ensure inclusivity and integrity by increasing access and much-needed aid to Main Street businesses, said SBA Senior Advisor Michael Roth.
To further demonstrate the commitment to racial and gender equity, reaching low and moderate-income, rural, urban, and other underserved areas, the SBA will:
- Establish a 14-day, exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees.
- Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these categories of applicants.
- Eliminate an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal.
- Eliminate 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; and
- Ensure access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to apply for the PPP.
The 14-day exclusivity period began Wednesday (Feb. 24), and the other four changes will be implemented by the first week of March. The SBA is working on the program changes and will communicate details throughout the week.
Borrowers can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program by downloading the First Draw PPP loan application or Second Draw PPP loan application and working with a participating PPP lender through the SBA Lender Match tool.
Through SBA’s nationwide district offices, the agency will work in close partnership with the Biden Administration to further leverage its resource partner network and expand on multilingual access and outreach about the PPP.
Updated PPP information, including forms, guidance, and resources is available at http://www.sba.gov/ppp and www.treasury.gov/cares.
The following information is from the U.S. Small Business Administration in Charlotte:
- Shuttered Venue Operator Grants: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/shuttered-venue-operators-grant This is the only one of our COVID-related programs for which SBA cannot and must not provide direct responses (even if only to verify the completeness of an application) as we are the grantor. Please also continue to refer to our web site Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (sba.gov) and the associated FAQs Shuttered Venue Operators Grants – FAQ (sba.gov) for information which is regularly updated.
- Targeted EIDL Advance Low Income Community Mapping Tool: For those who received a partial EIDL grant the SBA is emailing the business owners that qualify for additional grant funds. A low-income community mapping tool is now available to help Targeted EIDL Advance applicants determine if their business is in one. The map is on the COVID-19 EIDL web page under Targeted EIDL Advance. The business address must be in a low-income community to qualify so this is a great tool for potential applicants to check to see if they meet that eligibility requirement before applying. https://www.sba.gov/document/support-targeted-eidl-frequently-asked-questions
How to use the Mapping Tool
• The low-income community mapping tool is simple and easy to use.
• Go to https://sbaeidl.policymap.com/app and enter an address into the Location search bar above the map. For best results, enter a complete address (street address, city, state, ZIP code).
• When an address is found, a pin will be placed showing that location on the map.
• If you are unable to locate an address (e.g., rural routes or P.O. boxes instead of a full street address), you can enter a ZIP code into the location search bar and then zoom to an area.
Alternatively, you can also enter latitude, longitude coordinates into the location search bar if available.
• Census tracts that are identified as “low-income communities” are shaded dark purple on the map.
• When hovering over a location on the map, an info bubble will display a “Yes” or “No” based on whether the underlying census tract is identified as a “low-income community”.
• To see more information for a particular census tract, click on the map. A detailed info bubble will show the underlying indicators used to determine eligibility (e.g., poverty rate, census tract median family income (MFI) as a percent of metro area or statewide MFI, etc.)
