SBA Loan Program Starts As Small Businesses Make Urgent Applications

“I’ve been up all night,” said Jeremy Resnick of Jacksonville, Fla., who runs several businesses, including a real estate brokerage and a chain of ice cream stores. “They put out these rays of hope for people, and the reality behind it isn’t there.”

The frenzy played out against the backdrop of yet another grim unemployment report. On Friday, the Labor Department said employers shed 701,000 jobs last month — the biggest monthly drop in more than a decade, ending a landmark 113 months of job creation. And nearly 10 million people applied for unemployment benefits over the previous two weeks.

Some of their former employers view the relief program, called the Paycheck Protection Program, as a potential lifeline. Companies with fewer than 500 workers have slashed millions of jobs in recent weeks as restaurants, bars, retailers and other Main Street businesses across the country were ordered to shut their doors.

The program offers such companies loans of up to $10 million, which can be forgiven if the business uses the money to retain workers for eight weeks or rehire for positions it cuts in the wake of the pandemic. The Small Business Administration is backing the loans, but customers must apply through banks or other lenders.

Bank of America was the first big bank to begin taking applications, and it had around 10,000 by early Friday, Brian Moynihan, the bank’s chief executive, said on CNBC. By evening, its loan requests totaled $22 billion, a spokesman said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/business/sba-loans-coronavirus.html