Late yesterday afternoon, the United States Senate approved another $310 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program. This action was followed up by the United States House of Representatives where they passed the same package on Thursday, which will continue to provide much-needed relief to small businesses throughout the country, especially in Ohio.

This new funding was a part of a greater stimulus package that totaled $484 billion. Of that, $310 billion will replenish the Paycheck Protection Program. Within that portion, $60 billion was specifically allocated for small lenders to ensure funding is available to small businesses. Additionally, there was another $60 billion allocated for Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Of the remaining $100 billion, $75 billion in grants are being made available to hospitals that are overwhelmed by the rush of Covid-19 patients and $25 billion is allocated to bolster Coronavirus testing.

By the end of last week, almost 60,000 businesses in Ohio have had loans approved through the U.S. Small Business Administration totaling over $14 billion. This places Ohio 7th nationwide in terms of amount of funds approved for Ohio businesses with an average loan of $235,000. These loans have the potential to keep businesses open and workers employed throughout the duration of the Coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, the funds available in the original program ran out after only two weeks.

The Paycheck Protection Program was included in the Federal CARES Act and had almost $350 billion of funding to help small businesses keep workers employed during the pandemic resulting in the economic downturn. Employers can apply for a loan up to 2.5 times the borrower’s average monthly payroll costs, not to exceed $10 million.

We anticipate President Trump signing this bill into law and expect these additional funds will become available very soon for businesses in Ohio to continue to operate and keep their workers employed throughout the course of the Coronavirus pandemic. For more information on this program and any other programs available to small businesses, please visit the Ohio Chamber’s Coronavirus Business Resource page.