New Federal aid coming to small businesses from COVID Relief stimulus bill

Posted By: Jack Krampitz December 30, 2020

The state Commissioner of Economic & Community Development, David Lehman, today released a Memo to Connecticut mayors concerning the federal government’s recently approved $900 billion stimulus package<https://decd.cmail20.com/t/j-l-adyjidt-jukutreid-y/>, designed to deliver economic relief to small businesses impacted by the pandemic.

The package includes $325 billion for small businesses, including $284 billion in loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

“The new round of PPP funding provides a great opportunity for companies that did not receive a forgivable PPP loan earlier this year,” said Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu. “It also allows businesses with 300 or fewer employees that experienced more than 25% revenue loss in the first, second or third quarter in 2020 to secure a second forgivable PPP loan.”

The Paycheck Protection Program will again be managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and loans will once again be secured through an SBA-approved bank, credit union or fintech.

Here<https://decd.cmail20.com/t/j-l-adyjidt-jukutreid-j/> is a list of participating lenders.

“We recommend small businesses begin working with an approved lender now, as there could be high demand for this program. For those companies applying for a second PPP loan, working with the same financial institution could speed up the application process for your business,” advised Councilman David Preleski, the City Council liaison to the Economic & Community Development Commission.

Lehman noted that more information should be available on the SBA website<https://decd.cmail20.com/t/j-l-adyjidt-jukutreid-t/> soon, but in the meantime the Connecticut Small Business Development Center (SBDC) will host multiple webinars to help you understand what information business owners may need to apply for a PPP loan. Click here to register<https://decd.cmail20.com/t/j-l-adyjidt-jukutreid-i/> for one of the webinars.

Justin Malley, economic & community development director for the City said that the PPP information and other helpful information would be loaded onto the City’s website and social media platforms early next week.

The PPP has been a huge boost to Connecticut businesses that continue to struggle under the economic realities brought on by this pandemic. To date, Connecticut companies and nonprofits have secured almost 65,000 loans under the program.