U.S. Sen. Leahy helped secure funding with the CARES Act in March, second round will bring more in May
The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $853 million in loans to 4,896 Vermont businesses, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy announced on Wednesday, April 15. The assistance comes from the Paycheck Protection Program that was created as part of the CARES Act Congress passed in late March.
The average loan size for businesses approved across the U.S. was $239,152.
Leahy, the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, had a leading role in crafting the three emergency Covid-19 bills.
“One of our top priorities in the CARES Act was to ensure businesses would have access to capital to help them persevere through this crisis,” said Leahy.
“Our banks, credit unions and other lenders have done an extraordinary job under very trying circumstances to process these applications. Thanks to their hard work and partnership with SBA many Vermont businesses now have access to a lifeline,” he continued.
The Paycheck Protection Program is designed to provide cash-flow assistance through 100% federally guaranteed loans to employers who maintain their payroll during this emergency.
While originally, loans were to be made available starting April 3 through June 30, 2020, the program ran out of money on Thursday, April 16 — just 13 days after it began.
There had been $349 billion allotted for the program.
At press time, lawmakers were working on a PPP extension bill that would provide an additional $310 billion to small businesses. Of that $60 billion would be allocated for smaller banking institutions and credit unions, to give smaller businesses a better shot at being approved.
It was reported that larger banks prioritized larger businesses during the first round of PPP loans.
For more information visit sba.gov.
