There’s still plenty of money available for Central New York’s small businesses that might have missed out on….or were denied access during the first round of the popular Paycheck Protection Program loans. Small Business Administration Upstate District Director Bernard Paprocki says $100 billion is up for grabs.
"The SBA has taken steps in round two to ensure that smaller businesses and smaller banks can participate at a much higher level, and the numbers are proving that true."
For example, he says they’ve awarded nearly 2.4 million loans worth $181 billion the first 11 days of round two. That compares to 1.6 million loans from all of round one. Paprocki says lenders are also disbursing loans much faster.
"They've got expertise on board now. They've learned from doing it repeatedly how to get it done quickly. What are the important questions to ask, where to go, who to call. All thost things are being worked out."
The average size of the loan is down by about half to $76,000, which indicates that the money is getting to actual small businesses and not larger companies. Paprocki says there are also lenders focused on getting funds to minority and women owned businesses, some which were reportedly passed by the first time.
"There are a number of nationwide lenders that are online with us now, too, that have picked up the ball in those areas. You'll see at the end of the allocation of this program, I think you'll see that those numbers will look significantly different than in that first round."
The SBA forgives the portion of PPP loan proceeds used to cover the first eight weeks of payroll, utilities, rent, and mortgage interest, with 75 percent applied to payroll. Employers can rehire their workers through June 30th. More information is at sba.gov or by calling (315) 471-9393.
