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Paycheck Protection Program opens for small business owners

Posted at 9:23 PM, Apr 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-04 00:23:33-04

NEVADA (KTNV) — Small business owners from all over the country are eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program, also known as PPP, including thousands from Nevada.

This is after $349 billion in loans were allocated to the program to small business and private nonprofits and its employees.

Friday, more than $3.5 billion in loans have been processed in the country. According to the federal government, the loan will have a maturity of 2 years and an interest rate of 1 percent.

This loan could be forgiven if you use them for payroll costs for at least 75% and the rest for other expenses like rent and utilities.

RELATED: How to apply for a federal disaster loan if you are a small business

There are a couple of steps that need to be done before having that money, like talking to your lender and filling out an application.

The District Director of SBA Nevada, Joseph Amato, explained that on the Small Business Administration website, under the coronavirus relief options, you can find the forms needed for the application.

“Have your financial information ready, your payroll information ready, and have a good understanding of your payroll count is. That and the application completed as best you can will be very helpful to the bankers”, Amato said.

And after submitting your application, you’ll have to wait for the lender to finish their data collection and analysis to determine if you are approved or not.

According to Amato, the loan money “once approved, normally the funding will come directly from the bank, would take a week at best, at worst, a week and a half or two.”

The Nevada Bankers Association is asking everyone for patience in this process since there are about 5,400 banks in the country, and roughly 1,800 of them are approved by the small business administration and have experience in this process.

Independent contractors are also eligible, but they have to wait until for PPP April 10th to apply for it.

If the Paycheck Protection Program is an option for your business, there are other programs available, but they could require back payments or have amount limits that may not be enough for your situation.

For more information, contact the Small Business Administration here in Nevada at 702-388-6611.