Federal help coming for small businesses

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore-Capito provided an update about relief for small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis on WAJR’s Talk of the Town with Dave & Sarah.

The Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan will offer working capital loans to businesses with 500 employees or less to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue.

“These loans will originate from financial institutions, from banks or credit unions, so first contact your financial institution,”Moore-Capito said,”And it is a guaranteed loan from the Small Business Administration.”

According to the West Virginia, Small Business Administration website the funds can be available within three days of a successful application.

“When we go back to life as normal, which it would be nice to do that tomorrow, but whenever that is, even if it’s different normal they’ll still be connected,”Moore-Capito said,”There will be a business to come back to, and there will be employees for that business.”

Small businesses are required to document their day-to-day operating costs for the past year, then a forgivable loan could be approved to cover those costs for an eight week period.

“So, most of the cost of doing business for an eight-week period would be forgivable,”Moore-Capito said,”If you use the loan money to do something else like pave a parking lot you would have to pay that back.” “We’ve expanded some of the availability of the small business loan to other types of business like a sole proprietor, independent contractors, a gig economy worker or self-employed people.”

The $350 billion program is part of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act just recently passed.

“There’s going to be some frustration there, because the banks don’t have full instructions yet. It’s coming out as quickly as we can, that’s why there are questions,”Moore-Capito said,”But, that will be up and running rapidly.”