Today is the last day that the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is accepting loan applications of up to $2 million for the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which has more than $100 billion in Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic relief funding still available.
Over the past three months, the SBA has funded more than 4.8 million PPP loans totaling more than $500 billion in potentially-forgivable financial assistance and, more recently, simplified PPP guidelines for both applying for a loan and applying for loan forgiveness.
In partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and related business associations, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ECCI) has regularly posted information about the PPP through our website home page new modules and via our Facebook and Twitter social media pages.
Informing the Elmhurst business community continues to be an “all hands on deck” exercise and ECCI representatives have regularly interacted with elected members of Congress, SBA officials and business experts participating in online sessions to share insight and information.
The U.S. Chamber has praised the constant work by the U.S. Department of Treasury and SBA to answer questions by lenders and small business borrowers as “impressive.” In three months, Treasury and the SBA have issued more than 50 guidance documents and 20 regulations to answer the flood of PPP questions.
With small businesses still in need of help, the U.S. Chamber is continuing to work with Congress, the SBA, and the White House to make sure the next legislative stimulus package contains targeted measures to get Main Street through the pandemic.
The Chamber supports extending the June 30 deadline and wants to assure that small businesses are well positioned to receive PPP loan forgiveness, while also continuing to push for ECCI and local chambers of commerce and associations to qualify for PPP loans.
The U.S. Chamber supported the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020 which allows for PPP borrowers to (a) defer payroll taxes; (b) extend use of PPP funds to 24-weeks; (c) benefit from a 5-year loan term; and (d) gain flexibility by lowering the percentage of loan proceeds that must be spent on payroll to 60 percent (down from 75 percent).
The U.S. Chamber supports automatic forgiveness for loans under $250,000, has produced a Forgiveness Guide, produced a “Forgiveness in 15 Minutes” video, and is partnering with AICPA to promote a free PPP forgiveness calculator.