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1.1 Million Paycheck Protection Program Loans Forgiven So Far Totaling Over $100 Billion

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The U.S. Small Business Administration has already forgiven more than 1.1 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for over $100 billion, providing an extraordinary amount of critical relief to America’s small businesses just 3 months since the earliest PPP borrowers’ covered periods ended.   
 
“Today’s news is a key indicator that the PPP is working for all small businesses across our Nation,” said SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza. “For any eligible small business continuing to struggle due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Program has re-opened for new and certain existing PPP borrowers, and we encourage you to take advantage of the PPP to keep your workers on payroll, regardless of any local economic restrictions on your operations. SBA is continuing to work around the clock to forgive existing PPP loans and implement the next phase of this vital Program.” 
The SBA has so far received 1,346,125 forgiveness applications for approximately $170.5 billion.  SBA has made payment on nearly 85% of the applications, forgiving over $100 billion.  For the smallest borrowers with loans up to $50,000, 88% have been approved for forgiveness.
 
The new data comes as the Paycheck Protection Program has recently re-opened as a result of the Economic Aid to Hard Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act, signed into law by President Trump on Dec. 27, 2020.  The Act added operational expenditures, certain property damage costs, supplier costs and worker protection expenditures, such as drive-through areas, ventilation and sneeze guards, as eligible expenses as well.
The SBA provides PPP Forgiveness Submission & Payment Metrics, as well as Paycheck Protection Program reports, online at www.sba.gov/ppp.
 
 
About the U.S. Small Business Administration 
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.­

Loans Helping Local Establishments Weather the COVID Storm

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Joany Cole was excited to expand her brewpub business by opening a second location in Prescott.

A week later, the pandemic hit.

Cole and her husband, Brian, had just signed a new lease and taken out a line of credit for a second location on Marina and Sheldon streets in Prescott. Shortly after, they were told they had to close their doors for dine-in service because of the pandemic. The couple own Lonesome Valley Brewing in Prescott Valley, a brewpub they started in 2013.

“Literally a week before, we signed a lease for the second location,” Cole said.

Still, the couple had to figure out how to pay employees and keep a revenue stream going at the Prescott Valley business.

Like hundreds of Yavapai County business owners, Cole applied for funds through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, both from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The business owner credits the team at the Small Business Development Center at Yavapai College for helping guide them during a time they were in need of financial assistance.

Lonesome Valley Brewing was awarded a Paycheck Protection Program loan in a move that kept all of its employees on the payroll. The loan is meant to help rehire or retain employees of active businesses in the state. The brewpub also stayed in business with support from vendors and carryout orders. Funding from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan has also been approved.

Jeff Herbert, owner of Prescott’s Superstition Meadery, said he had to lay off most of his staff at the start of the pandemic. Herbert and his wife, Jennifer, own a downtown Prescott location and have plans to open a second location in downtown Phoenix.

“It was devastating,” Herbert said. “It was terrible. We went from 30 employees down to 10 in a few days.”

Herbert said he saw revenue from his business drastically shrink without the ability to have a dine-in service for customers. At times, there was only one person on staff at the meadery, and restaurant hours were cut back to six hours a day, he said.

In 2019, the couple was named National Small Business Persons of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The recognition honors entrepreneurs who take risks on ideas and invest in their communities. Herbert and his wife relied on three small business loans to weather the COVID storm.

The former Phoenix firefighter said he and his staff came up with creative ways to use digital marketing to their advantage. The company offered a 30% discount on anything in its web store, as well as several ongoing promotions on Instagram and Facebook. It also offered discounted gift certificates and next-day delivery. Also offered was a subscription-based mead club, which took off and generated more than 100 new memberships. The club fee starts at $200 every three months, according to the Superstition Meadery website.

“We [found] ways to reach people to get them excited about what we were doing,” Herbert said.

The much-needed injection of $160,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program is “making all the difference” and helped the company hire back most of its staff, he said.

Roxane Nielsen said her eyes and ears were glued to the television to learn more about how she and her husband, John, were going to run the Prescott Brewing Company in the midst of the pandemic. The Prescott Brewing Company started in 1994 at a time when the Bashford Courts building “was completely empty” in downtown Prescott. On March 20, the restaurant closed and the business offered its customers limited carryout service of picnic platters and pulled pork.

“I was reading about what was going on and what people were doing about it,” Nielsen said.

That week, she and staff members sat in an office “for hours and hours” to fill out loan applications. In about 15 days, the company received $400,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program. The funds allowed Nielsen to pay the salary of 70 to 75 employees for eight weeks.

By the time they got the money, Nielsen says all of the hourly staff members were not working. “They were at home.”

Nielsen says she has had to make adjustments with new directives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her restaurant has 30% less seating and she has opted to close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to allow the staff to deep-clean areas of the brewery.

She reminds locals that the brewery has no intention of closing up shop. “Come see us; we are open.”

Cole echoes that statement and says she is optimistic about the future. “We are going to be right where we were or a little bit better.” QCBN

By Brent Ruffner, QCBN

Small Businesses May Still Apply for Paycheck Protection

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Funds are still available to small businesses through the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provides loans designed to encourage small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll.

Small businesses, sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed persons apply for the PPP loans through their banks. Lenders in Northern Arizona, like Neil Wesson at Foothills Bank, are staying busy processing PPP applications.

“We have been working day and night to process the PPP loan applications. But I have to tell you, this is the most rewarding time of my career,” said Wesson, who has been in banking for more than 20 years. “When you call a client and let them know they have been approved for the small business loan, and that person is overcome with tears and joy, then there’s nothing as gratifying as helping our small business owners within the community we serve.”

The senior commercial loan officer says Foothills has been able to help more than 150 small businesses in Northern Arizona, many of which had relationships with other financial institutions. “We take pride in helping business owners, independent contractors and sole proprietors by providing clear communication and making ourselves available,” said Wesson. “It takes a team to accomplish what we have done over the past six weeks, and I am so proud to be a part of this great organization.”

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved 72,523 PPP loans in Arizona. Those loans represent $8,563,928,791 in approved dollars.

“As of today, we are still accepting PPP loan applications, as there is still money available from the second phase of funds,” Wesson said. “I feel it’s very important to have conversations with small business owners first, to help direct and provide guidance within the application process. We have an application package that can be sent out to them via email. I will work closely with the small business owners and keep them posted with any and all updates as they become available.”

Small Business Development Center Director Gina Couillard recommends that businesses apply as soon as possible. She warns that the guidance for small businesses regarding the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) is technical and confusing.

The SBA will forgive PPP loans if businesses keep all employees on the payroll for eight weeks and use the money for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities. “The Coconino Small Business Development Center (SBDC) recommends you consult with your CPA or SBDC to navigate the completion of the PPP forgiveness application. The PPP program was designed to assist businesses during this uncertain time, and businesses have liberal time to apply for forgiveness,” she said. “We strongly urge businesses to keep clean, accurate financial records and take time to prepare for loan forgiveness.” QCBN

By Stacey Wittig, QCBN

Coconino SBDC

sbdc@coconino.edu

928-526-7644

Foothills Bank, Division of Glacier Bank

1750 S Woodlands Village Boulevard, Flagstaff

928-635-7252

foothillsbank.com

 

McSally Calls on Big Companies to Return Relief Loans Intended for Small Businesses

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U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) joined Fox and Friends this morning and called on large businesses with access to capital to return their relief loans so small businesses and mom-and-pop shops can access vital funding. She also spoke about U.S. posture toward Iran.

Watch her interview HERE.

See excerpts below:

STEVE DOOCY: Right and that’s why it’s so frustrating, senator, that they already ran out of money early and then it comes to light that places like Shake Shack which has got a lot of locations and a lot of money and Harvard wound up with close to $8-9 million bucks. The president made it very clear, Harvard has to give that money back.

You know and the frustrating thing about this, senator, is for the small businesses looking in and they thought this is going to help me make up my payroll for those people we’ve had to ask not to come into work, but then I’ve got family members who have been dealing with a really big bank for many, many years and they were told that you know what you would be better of going to a smaller bank because we’re only going to do business with really big companies because we can make more money on the big companies with one deal than 30 of the little deals.

SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY: Well, that’s disgusting. I got a masters from Harvard, but they need to give that money back. It came from another pot of money but still they have a $40 billion dollar endowment. They should help struggling students with that, and look when we passed this legislation, we said what’s the fastest way to get the money out to these small businesses and really the words of the day were speed, also grace, good faith, and selflessness, right? We are all in this together as Americans. We decided to use the financial institutions to more quickly get this money out. I tweeted out yesterday: Dear big banks, the PPP money is not yours. It’s the taxpayers’ money and it needs to go to mom and pop shops. They’re just passing through, they’re just processing it, this isn’t about their relationships with others who have plenty of access to capital. So you big companies out there: give the money back, support your workers. You big banks out there: you get that money out to those mom and pop shops, those one-person businesses. That’s why we chose to do it this way. Do the right thing.

BRIAN KILMEADE: I want to move to another area of your expertise because of your military background as a fighter pilot. The president made it clear that it’s not ok for these smaller to attack our warships and he’s given instructions out. He just tweeted this out, I want to share with you: I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. And we’ll show you the video, you’ve probably seen this already. I mean we could just these boats, but now they try it again, do you believe that if you’re the Navy captain, admiral you will blow them out of the water because of that tweet?

SEN. MCSALLY: Well, we’ve seen in the past when we show weakness around the world if you remember they were doing this recklessly and with no limitations. They were even taking our crews hostage and embarrassing them, and we’re now showing strength using a maximum pressure campaign with Iran that includes ensuring that our military can defend themselves and protect themselves and the rules of engagement need to be clear having been in the military about what you need to do to ensure you can protect your ships, so I appreciate a commander in chief who is showing strength there. We need to make sure that our Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, and Marines can protect ourselves and we need to continue to show strength.

Background:

Earlier today, Sen. McSally tweeted that Harvard should give all of its relief money back.
On April 21, Sen. McSally supported the latest coronavirus relief package that will provide an additional $484 billion dollars in relief to support small businesses, hospitals, and increased testing in Arizona.
On April 21, Sen. McSally called for funds to focus on small businesses, after reports of publicly traded companies with access to capital and bank relationships receiving money quickly while many mom and pop shops have struggled to access PPP funding.