This article first appeared on our sister site, newburghny.org

Right now, America’s small businesses are reeling from the effects of the COVID 19 crisis.

To help, President Trump and Congress just passed the CARES Act providing billions in aid for America’s entrepreneurs through its Paycheck Protection Program.

What it is the Paycheck Protection Program used for?

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provides forgivable loans to any business with 500 employees or less.

This includes restaurant or hotel companies with fewer than 500 employees per location, it includes sole proprietor businesses,  independent contractors and a new class of workers: workers in the gig economy.

Any small business is eligible to borrow 250 percent of their average monthly payroll and expenses up to a total of 10 million dollars.

How it works:

The forgivable loan (which in essence is operating like a grant) can be used for expenses including payroll interest payments on mortgages, rent payments,  leases, and utilities.

It can be used for eight weeks of expenses between February 15th and June 30th 2020.

Program goal:

The goal of the program is to help businesses retain their employees.

If you lay off employees the forgiveness will be reduced by the percent decrease in the number of

employees.

A question of percentages.

For example, if you had 10 employees and laid off one, 90 percent of the loan would be forgiven.

If your total payroll expenses decreased by more than 25 percent loan, forgiveness will be

reduced by the same amount.

Rehiring means your loan can still be forgiven.

If you have already laid off employees, you can still be forgiven for the full amount of your

loan if you rehire your employees by June 30th 2020.

Where to obtain:

The loans are available from any local or national bank that is approved to make SBA loans or is FDIC insured.

You do not need to contact the SBA or any other government agency to apply for these loans.

Applications are accepted April 3rd through June 30th 2020.

Locating a qualified bank institution near me:

Click on the map to search for eligible lenders near you.

Some Important Considerations:

Anecdotally, we are learning that some lenders are requiring that businesses and individuals seeking loans must have a prior business relationship with the lender.

Such a relationship may include small business, commercial or corporate credit cards, conventional business loan or lease, business lines of credit, business auto loans, etc.,

To download the loan application, click here: PPP Borrower Application Form.pdf

For additional inquiries or help with this loan, Orange County New York residents may contact the Orange County IDA for assistance.  

The Orange County IDA has been actively working with banks in the Hudson Valley as well as the Small Business Administration to help communicate information about the roll out of this program.

If you have other questions or need more information about applying for federal aid, please reach out to the at business@ocnyida.com or by phone at 845-234-4192. They are here to answer your questions and walk you through the application process.

If you are a Hudson Valley Banking Institution interested in notifying us of your participation in the program, please email us at: theteam@newburghny.org and we will add your information to this blog post on a rolling basis.