Help for Businesses

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S. officials are committed to ensuring that financial firms and businesses facing disruptions related to the coronavirus have access to liquidity. The Fed has said it would make vast sums of short-term loans available. In addition, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it will offer disaster assistance loans of up to $2 million to small businesses that have been severely impacted by the spread of the coronavirus.

“Small businesses are vital economic engines in every community and state, and they have helped make our economy the strongest in the world,” Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza said in a statement.

To get the process moving, the SBA must receive a request from a state’s governor. Once that request comes in, the agency will issue an Economic Injury Disaster Loan Declaration. That authority was given to the Small Business Administration as part of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act recently signed by President Donald Trump.

Small Business Assistance

The U.S. Small Business Administration provides several loan resources for small businesses to utilize when operating their business. Click here for more information on loans or how to connect with a lender.

How to get access to lending partners? SBA has developed Lender Match, a free online referral tool that connects small businesses with participating SBA-approved lenders within 48 hours.

• 7(a) program offers loan amounts up to $5 million and is an all-inclusive loan program deployed by lending partners for eligible small businesses within the U.S. States and its territories. The uses of proceeds include: working capital; expansion/renovation; new construction; purchase of land or buildings; purchase of equipment, fixtures; lease-hold improvements; refinancing debt for compelling reasons; seasonal line of credit; inventory; or starting a business.
• Express loan program provides loans up to $350,000 for no more than seven years with an option to revolve. There is a turnaround time of 36 hours for approval or denial of a completed application. The uses of proceeds are the same as the standard 7(a) loan.
• Community Advantage loan pilot program allows mission-based lenders to assist small businesses in underserved markets with a maximum loan size of $250,000. The uses of proceeds are the same as the standard 7(a) loan.
• 504 loan program is designed to foster economic development and job creation and/or retention. The eligible use of proceeds is limited to the acquisition or eligible refinance of fixed assets.
• Microloan program involves making loans through nonprofit lending organizations to underserved markets. Authorized use of loan proceeds includes working capital, supplies, machinery and equipment, and fixtures (does not include real estate). The maximum loan amount is $50,000 with the average loan size of $14,000.