SBA Prioritizes Smallest of Small Businesses in the Paycheck Protection Program

The Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration are taking steps with the Paycheck Protection Program to promote equitable relief for America’s mom-and-pop businesses.

“The SBA is a frontline agency working to create an inclusive economy, focused on reaching women-owned, minority-owned, low- and moderate-income, rural, and other underserved communities in meaningful ways. While reported data illustrates we have made real strides in ensuring these funds are reaching underserved communities, we believe we can still do better,” says SBA senior advisor Michael Roth. “The important policy changes we are announcing further ensure inclusivity and integrity by increasing access and much-needed aid to Main Street businesses that anchor our neighborhoods and help families build wealth.”

The SBA:

• Establishes a 14-day, exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees;
• Allows sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these categories of applicants;
• Eliminates an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal;
• Eliminates PPP access restrictions on small business owners who have struggled to make federal student loan payments by eliminating federal student loan debt delinquency and default as disqualifiers to participating in the PPP; and
• Ensures access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to apply for the PPP.

The 14-day exclusivity period starts on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 9 a.m. ET, while the other four changes will be implemented by the first week of March. The SBA is working on the program changes and will communicate details throughout this week.

Borrowers can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program by downloading the First Draw PPP loan application or Second Draw PPP loan application and working with a participating PPP lender through the SBA Lender Match tool.

Through SBA’s nationwide district offices, the agency works in close partnership with the Biden-Harris Administration to further leverage its resource partner network and expand on multilingual access and outreach about the PPP.

The latest round of Paycheck Protection Program funding opened one month ago, with significant improvements to the program’s implementation, including:

• For businesses with fewer than 10 employees, the share of funding is up nearly 60%
• For businesses in rural communities, the share of funding is up nearly 30%
• The share of funding distributed through Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions is up more than 40%