Coronavirus Disaster Relief for Small Businesses
Update – March 31, 2020
The US Treasury Department released additional information today on the CARES Act and the Payroll Protection Program (PPP). This is still a developing process. Please be patient.
Applications will be accepted April 3rd through June 30th.
Small business owners can go to the U.S. Treasury Department for more information or use the links below to download the PDF files of the printable forms.
PPP Borrower Information Fact Sheet.pdf
Borrower Paycheck Protection Program Application (v1).pdf
March 29, 2020
The CARES Act that was passed Friday is still being ironed out. Under the Act, the SBA has 30 days to create all their policies and procedures but they expect to have all in place in less than 15 days. It appears there will be two main avenues for most small businesses, the Economic Injury Disaster Relief Loan Program and the Paycheck Protection Program. Other programs are developing as well.
Economic Injury Disaster Relief Loan Program (EIDL)
Small Businesses can apply directly to the SBA for this loan at: https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela
You will download several forms from the site, complete them, and upload back to the site. If eligible to apply, and most businesses should be eligible, you can request an emergency advance up to $10,000 (suppose to receive within three days). The advance is to be used for specific needs. If your request for the EIDL is eventually denied you will not have to repay this emergency advance.
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
The PPP lends up to 2.5 times your average total monthly payroll costs based on pre-crisis figures. Funds must be used to support ongoing operations and retain workers. Most, if not all, of this loan can be forgiven if it is used as directed. The amount forgiven will be reduced based on the percentage of workforce reduction and reduction in salaries paid prior to February 15th payroll figures. It is hopeful the SBA will have ready a one-page application in the next 72 hours.
Abbeville First Bank is an SBA lender and the Bank is working with the Business Development Corporation (BDC) to use their expedited application process. However, we caution that once this application is open the SBA may be overwhelmed causing them to have delays in processing. Also, there is conflicting information as to whether a business can apply for both. We will provide clarification on this as soon as we have it.
For now, these relief programs are providing for relief incurred during this crisis from March through June. It appears that applications for these programs will be open until at least December.
All information above is what has been compiled from various directives and conference calls with: national and state banking associations, legal counsel of these associations, SBA direct lender vendors, the FDIC, and the Treasury Department. This information sheet is based on our understanding of the programs at this time. We encourage you to seek other reliable sources for more information of programs available for your business situation.
