Tracey Porpora
Staten Island Advance, N.Y.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) As Tracey Porpora reports, “The new forgiveness portal will help rush relief to more than 6.5 million small businesses, according to the SBA. Overall, the SBA and lenders worked to originate more than 11.7 million loans totaling nearly $800 billion in relief to over 8.5 million small businesses.”
Staten Island
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will launch a streamlined Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness application portal to allow borrowers with PPP loans of $150,000 or less to apply for forgiveness directly through the SBA.
On Wednesday, Aug. 4, the portal will begin accepting applications from borrowers who have a PPP loan with a lender that has opted into the forgiveness portal.
Established by the CARES Act in 2020, the PPP was among the first coronavirus (COVID-19) small business economic aid programs. It provided more than $798 billion in economic relief to small businesses and nonprofits across the nation, according to the SBA.
“The SBA’s new streamlined application portal will simplify forgiveness for millions of our smallest businesses — including many sole proprietors — who used funds from our Paycheck Protection Program loans to survive the pandemic,” said SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman.
“The vast majority of businesses waiting for forgiveness have loans under $150,000. These entrepreneurs are busy running their businesses and are challenged by an overly complicated forgiveness process. We need to deliver forgiveness more efficiently so they can get back to enlivening our Main Streets, sustaining our neighborhoods and fueling our nation’s economy,” she added.
The new forgiveness portal will help rush relief to more than 6.5 million small businesses, according to the SBA. Overall, the SBA and lenders worked to originate more than 11.7 million loans totaling nearly $800 billion in relief to over 8.5 million small businesses. More than 600 banks have opted into direct forgiveness, enabling more than 2.17 million borrowers to apply through the portal (this represents 30% of loans $150,000 or less that have not yet submitted for forgiveness), said the SBA.
CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM
The SBA also is launching a PPP customer service team to answer questions and directly assist borrowers with their forgiveness applications. Borrowers needing assistance or with questions can call (877) 552-2692, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Lenders must opt into the program through https://directforgiveness.sba.gov.
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