b'COVID-19 CrisisEligibility and Application Questions Related to the SBA Loan ProgramsEditors note: The following are a set hourly wages and cash tips, paid sick or loan?still lay off employees, the forgivenessof questions and answers related to the medical leave, and group health insur- The covered period during which ex- will be reduced by the percent decreaseU.S.SmallBusinessAdministration ance premiums. If you would like to use penses can be forgiven extends from Feb. in the number of employees. If your total(SBA) loan process. These were put to- thePaycheckProtectionProgramfor 15toJune30.Borrowerscanchoose payroll expenses on workers making lessgether by the U.S. Senate Committee on other business-related expenses, like in- which eight weeks they want to count to- than$100,000annuallydecreasesbySmall Business and Entrepreneurship.ventory, you can, but that portion of the wards the covered period, which can more than 25%, loan forgiveness will beWhere can I apply for the Paycheck loan will not be forgiven.start as early as Feb.15.reducedbythesameamount.IfyouProtection Program?When is the loan forgiven?How much of my loan will be for- have already laid off some employees,You can apply for the Paycheck Pro- The loan is forgiven at the end of the given?youcanstillbeforgivenforthefulltection Program (PPP) at any lending in- eight-week period after you take out the The purpose of the Paycheck Protec- amount of your payroll cost if you rehirestitution that is approved to participate loan. Borrowers will work with lenders to tion Program is to help you retain your your employees by June 30, 2020. in the program through the existing U.S. verify covered expenses and the proper employees, at their current base pay. If Am I responsible for interest on theSmallBusinessAdministration(SBA) amount of forgiveness.you keep all of your employees, the en- forgiven loan amount? 7(a)lendingprogramandadditional What is the covered period of the tirety of the loan will be forgiven. If you SBA Loan Programscontinued on page 38lenders approved by the Department ofTreasury. This could be the bank you al-ready use, or a nearby bank. There arethousands of banks that already partici-pate in the SBAs lending programs, in-cluding numerous community banks.You do not have to visit any governmentinstitution to apply for the program. Youcan call your bank or find SBA-approvedlenders in your area through SBAs onlineLender Match tool. You can call yourlocal Small Business Development Cen-ter or Womens Business Center and theywill provide free assistance and guideyou to lenders. Who is eligible for the loan? You are eligible for a loan if you are asmall business that employs 500 em-ployees or fewer, or if your business is inan industry that has an employee-basedsize standard through SBA that is higherthan 500 employees. In addition, if youare a restaurant, hotel or business thatfalls within the North American IndustryClassification System (NAICS) code 72,Accommodation and Food Services,and each of your locations has 500 em-ployees or fewer, you are eligible. Tribalbusinesses, 501(c)(19) veteran organiza-tions, and 501(c)(3) nonprofits, includingreligious organizations, will be eligiblefor the program. Nonprofit organizationsare subject to SBAs affiliation standards.Independently owned franchises withunder 500 employees, who are approvedby SBA, are also eligible. Eligible fran-chises can be found through SBAs Fran-chise Directory. I am an independent contractor orgig economy worker, am I eligible? Yes.Soleproprietors,independentcontractors, gig economy workers, andself-employed individuals are all eligiblefor the Paycheck Protection Program. What is the maximum amount I canborrow? The amount any small business is el-igible to borrow is 250% of their averagemonthly payroll expenses, up to a totalof $10 million. This amount is intendedto cover eight weeks of payroll expensesand any additional amounts for makingpayments towards debt obligations. Thiseight-week period may be applied to anytime frame between Feb. 15 and June 30.Seasonalbusinessexpenseswillbemeasured using a 12-week period begin-ning Feb. 15 or March 1, whichever theseasonal employer chooses. How can I use the money such thatthe loan will be forgiven? The amount of principal that may beforgiven is equal to the sum of expensesforpayrollandexistinginterestpay-mentsonmortgages,rentpayments,leases, and utility service agreements.Payroll costs include employee salaries(up to an annual rate of pay of $100,000),WOODALLSCM.com May 2020-31'