The SBA has established a 14-day, exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees, beginning on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 9 a.m. and ending on March 9, 2021 at 5 p.m.. The goal is to provide these smaller businesses, particularly those that are minority-owned or in low income areas, with equal access to funding.

Addition changes were announced, aimed at improving access for sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed workers, including how they calculate their loan amounts. Those include:

  • Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these categories of applicants;
  • Eliminate an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal;
  • Eliminate PPP access restrictions on small business owners who have struggled to make student loan payments by eliminating student loan debt delinquency as a disqualifier to participating in the PPP; and
  • Ensure access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to apply for the PPP.

More details are available on the SBA web site.

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