Paycheck Protection Program is Reopened

Today, Monday, January 11, the federal Paycheck Protection Program reopened. The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. Initially, in this second phase, it will only be available to businesses applying at community financial institutions.

The U.S. Treasury and the Small Business Administration (SBA) said they will open the program to all small businesses soon. While there is no exact date yet, that is expected to happen sometime during the week of January 18.

From the Small Business Administration

The SBA has updated their rules and guidance. The updates include:

• PPP borrowers can set their PPP loan’s covered period to be any length between 8 and 24 weeks to best meet their business needs;
• PPP loans will cover additional expenses, including operations expenditures, property damage costs, supplier costs and worker protection expenditures;
• The Program’s eligibility is expanded to include 501(c)(6)s (ASA is a 501(c)(6) organization), housing cooperatives, destination marketing organizations among other types of organizations;
• The PPP provides greater flexibility for seasonal employees;
• Certain existing PPP borrowers can request to modify their First Draw PPP Loan amount; and
• Certain existing PPP borrowers are now eligible to apply for a Second Draw PPP Loan.

A borrower is generally eligible for a Second Draw PPP Loan if the borrower:

• Previously received a First Draw PPP Loan and will or has used the full amount only for authorized uses;
• Has no more than 300 employees; and
• Can demonstrate at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020.

For more information, please visit the SBA’s PPP website.