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Second Round Of Paycheck Protection Loans Open To Arkansas Businesses

npr.org

Arkansas businesses can now apply for a second round of loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP.

The second set of loans from the federal program opened to businesses getting loans from lenders with under $1 billion in assets late last week, and will open for all other businesses Tuesday.

Edward Haddock is Arkansas District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, which oversees the program. He says eligible companies can receive forgivable loans from the $245 billion in federal funding allocated to the program.

“SBA is really working through this in a methodical process this round to make sure that we do have equal access for our underserved applicants such as our women-owned businesses, our minority-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and those businesses that might be in the low to moderate income areas,” Haddock said. “We've allocated more time and carved out the funding to ensure that we're getting those individual applicants access to these resources.”

Haddock says businesses who haven’t previously received a PPP loan can receive up to 2 ½ times their monthly payroll and certain expenses, and can later have their loan forgiven. Businesses with 300 employees or less who received a loan in the program’s first round are eligible for up to $2 million if they had a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020.

Haddock says some new organizations are now eligible for this second round of funding.

“Now with the new legislation we've expanded eligibility to TV, newspaper and radio stations as well as 501 C (6)s and housing organizations,” Haddock said.

The deadline for businesses to apply for the second round of funding is March 31. You can find a lender online at the Small Business Administration's website

Daniel Breen is News Director of Little Rock Public Radio.
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