The extension includes additional time for the Small Business Administration to process loans.
3/31/2021 14:00
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) will remain open through at least May 31, 2021, after President Joe Biden signed the PPP Extension Act of 2021 this week.
The legislation also extends the PPP authorization through June 30, 2021, to provide the SBA additional time to process applications received by the application deadline, according to an announcement from The White House.
Biden recently announced changes to make the PPP more equitable for borrowers.
As a result, the SBA established a 14-day, exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees. This gave lenders and community partners more time to work with the smallest businesses to submit their applications, while also ensuring that larger PPP-eligible businesses still had plenty of time to apply for and receive support before the program expires on May 31, 2021, according to a news release.
SBA also made four additional changes to open the PPP to more underserved small businesses than ever before, publishing an Interim Final Rule and new FAQ with this detail in March.
“President Biden sent another strong message to America’s more than 30 million small-business owners negatively impacted by the pandemic: help is here,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman in a news release. “By signing the PPP Extension Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act into law, the president is providing additional critical relief to the smallest of the small businesses—the mom-and-pop shops that line our Main Streets and keep our local and regional economies going.”