Town Of Tewksbury Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Plan

Press release from the Town of Tewksbury:

March 1, 2021

Outlined below is the latest information from the SBA on the Paycheck Protection Program: Beginning February 24th at 9:00 AM, the Small Business Administration (SBA) began a 14-day, exclusive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees. This exclusive period with a focus on small businesses will last through Wednesday, March 10th, and is designed to give lenders more time to work with the smallest businesses to submit their applications. Larger PPP-eligible businesses can apply for and receive support between March 10th and March 31st.

SBA also announced additional changes aimed at making the PPP accessible to more underserved small businesses. In order to accomplish this objective the SBA will:

• Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these 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 student loan payments by eliminating student loan debt delinquency as a disqualifier to participating in the PPP.
• 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.

Click here to access more information about these latest PPP updates.

An intent of the latest round of PPP funding is to reach small and low- and moderate-income (LMI) businesses who have not received the needed relief that a forgivable PPP loan provides. Congress created a $15 billion set-aside for small and LMI first draw borrowers. With existing policies, the current round has only deployed $2.4 billion to small LMI borrowers, in part because a disproportionate amount of funding in both wealthy and LMI areas is going to firms with more than 20 employees. The "less than 20" exclusivity period is intended to help achieve the original intent of reaching more LMI businesses. Click here to access complete information about the PPP program.

This press release was produced by the Town of Tewksbury. The views expressed here are the author’s own.