Dear Friends,
I read past headlines and dive deeper with my search for support resources for our community. Today, I read more news for our small and diverse business members:
There is a broad coalition of groups, including the American Bankers Association among other trade organizations, expressing support of a bipartisan bill that would speed up the process for forgiveness for most borrowers who acquired funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The bill sponsored by Senators Bill Cramer (R-N.D.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz) would expedite the forgiveness process for those businesses that received funds from the Small Business Administration PPP.
Less complex, and demanding of owners and their accountants to furnish more details and invest time, small business borrowers can continue to resume recovery. The Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act requires borrowers to complete a single page forgiveness document, and the borrower will automatically be forgiven. The document consists of one question, asking borrowers to affirm that funds were used according to PPP guidelines.
With a more streamlined process for those borrowers of $150,000 and below, business can rest assuredly and continue getting back to business. I am happy to report that the government is forgiving the smallest businesses, so that these entrepreneurs can focus on helping the local economy.
In other news, the Federal Reserve started the Main Street Lending Program to support lending to small and medium-sized businesses that were in sound financial condition before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The combined size of the different parts of this program will be up to $600 billion in available lending funds for institutions to lend eligible borrowers. In addition, the Federal Reserve and U.S. Department of the Treasury has been authorized to facilitate lending support to nonprofit organizations through. All qualified lenders can register and participate, as the Federal Reserve is currently working to create the infrastructure necessary to fully operationalize the program. Details can be found here.
As the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying economic crisis continue, people and small businesses are going to be looking for more ways to keep themselves afloat during this difficult period. Through this effort, the Federal Reserve is injecting financial assistance to help these impacted businesses to be able to rid the storm and make it out of this time. We hope that you find this information useful and can take advantage of the programs if you qualify and need assistance in these unprecedented times.
We will continue to keep you informed of updates like this and share the resources we come across so stay tuned as always.
In safety and health,
In friendship,
Susan Au Allen
National President & CEO
