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TSBDC assists small businesses seeking SBA disaster loans

It has been said that small businesses are the economic backbone of our country.  Never has this become more abundantly clear than today with the crippling attack of the Coronavirus pandemic on the nation’s small businesses and economy. 

Small businesses employ 58.9 million people nationwide and account for 47.5 percent of the country’s total employee workforce. The pandemic is hitting these employers hard, with many businesses grappling to survive.  It is especially painful for small businesses operating in disadvantaged communities and rural areas.  It is no wonder small businesses have greatly impacted the nation’s overall unemployment rate and economy.

Recently, Congress approved additional stimulus funding to help small businesses through an appropriations package of $320 billion and $60 billion for two critical Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs – the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).  Once these programs were made available, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) at Southwest Tennessee Community College became the go-to local SBA resource to assist area small business owners in applying for the loan programs.

The PPP is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll.  SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities.  As of April 26th, 2020, 34,035 PPP loans were approved in Tennessee totaling over $6.5 billion dollars.

EIDL provides vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Currently, 420 EIDL loans in Tennessee have been approved totaling over $93 million dollars.

Firms applying for EIDL are also eligible to receive up to a $10,000 advance that can be made available within days of a successful application, and this loan advance will not have to be repaid. In Tennessee, 19,064 advances have been processed totaling nearly $80 million dollars.

For more information on these SBA loan programs and others for small businesses, visit https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options. 

For virtual one-on-one assistance with loan applications or information on other state/local small business relief programs, visit www.tsbdc.org/swtcc and request free advising.