Small Business Week Would Be More Meaningful with a “PPP 2” Stimulus Program

The 2020 National Small Business Week honors America’s small businesses, many of which are veteran, women and minority-owned, for their achievements and dedication to their communities. This year’s celebration includes numerous SBA educational panels providing advice on retooling to deal with COVID-19 and innovative practices for entrepreneurs as our nation’s small businesses look to pivot and recover toward a stronger economy.

“This year, we will spotlight America’s outstanding small businesses and their stories of perseverance and their ability to pivot and overcome adversity,” said SBA Administrator Carranza in a press release this week. “This event will also feature many educational forums that will inspire entrepreneurs around the country as they recover and sustain their operations.”

The administrator is right to highlight businesses that have overcome adversity – and there certainly has been plenty of it in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed the travel and tourism, restaurant, hospitality, and entertainment industries, to name just a few. Many of these companies have already exhausted their Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that were part of the CARES Act stimulus package passed in late March.

However, PPP applications ended on Aug. 8, and the companies that received funding now are starting to pivot towards through the loan forgiveness process. Thus far, 60,000 businesses have submitted requests for their loans to be forgiven through platforms such as PPPForgivenessTool.com. The platform was launched in July by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), its business and technology arm, CPA.com, and Biz2Credit to streamline the process for CPA firms advising small businesses both on loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and additional small business financing options that clients may need to fund growth.

Right now, though, many businesses are struggling without further stimulus funding. The federal government must continue to help small businesses by passing the so-called “PPP 2” legislation that would get cash into the hands of business owners that are desperately hanging on for survival. The way the PPP was initially written back in March, businesses were only allowed to receive one round of funding from the program. But that was originally meant to be a short-term measure, and some of the lawmakers who wrote the language for that original bill have since indicated that they would support businesses taking a second round of funding if they have suffered large reductions in their business due to the pandemic.

But until a new law is passed, small businesses won’t be able to get additional funding.

This should not be an issue. In fact, $138 billion remains in the initial PPP funding pool administered by the SBA and the Treasury Department. Saving small businesses is a concept that should have bipartisan support, and I believe that Congress will pass new legislation to help struggling small business owners. While it may not happen before the Nov. 3 election, Democrats and Republicans almost certainly have to enact a new measure – unless they want to risk killing off more businesses during an economic period that can now be described as shaky.

As I mentioned in my video message to the small business community for this National Small Business Week, up to 16% of small businesses could declare bankruptcy within the next few months unless further financial assistance is forthcoming.

“There’s no question that COVID-19 has impacted small businesses across all industries. SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program helped more than 5.2 million small businesses and non-profits keep their workers on payroll, regardless of state and local shutdowns or quarantine orders,” added SBA Regional Administrator Steve Bulger who oversees the federal agency’s operations in the Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic Regions.

Small business owners have risen up in the face of adversity to demonstrate the resiliency of American entrepreneurship, but they need more help. In announcing National Small Business Week, President Trump stated: “This year, as we collectively recover from an unprecedented pandemic, my Administration remains intensely focused on helping every American enterprise remain viable, recover, and once again, thrive at historic levels. Our Nation’s more than 30 million small businesses -- which employ nearly half the private-sector workforce and create two-thirds of all net new jobs -- are the key to propelling our economy to the prosperity levels America has enjoyed over the past three years.”

It is critical for President Trump and the Congress to get on the same page and approve additional PPP funding before it is too late. Many firms simply cannot wait until next year. Some businesses are on financial respirators, and now is not the time to pull the plug on them.