Small-business owners will get two more months to access the popular Paycheck Protection Program.
Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a two-month extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, as well as giving the Small Business Administration an additional 30 days to process loans submitted before the new May 31 deadline. In a 92 to 7 vote, Senate passed the bill to extend the application deadline to May 31, from March 31; it separately voted down two amendments that would have slowed its progress. The bill also gives the Small Business Administration another month to process loans approved prior to the deadline.
“We believe the extension of the PPP is good news for our local businesses and communities”
Patrick Ryan, President & CEO, First Bank
Inc.com and CNBC.com interviewed First Bank President & CEO Patrick Ryan on what the extension means to the bank and small business.
“We believe the extension of the PPP is good news for our local businesses and communities,” said Ryan. “We continue to receive applications from businesses in need, and we don’t think an arbitrary date should prevent small businesses from accessing the funding they need and that has already been approved by Congress.”
Just last week, First Bank received an additional 30 applications and almost half of them were from first-time PPP applicants. So far in 2021, First Bank has received 831 applications for $110 million.