HARRISBURG — Small businesses impacted by the spread of coronavirus and subsequent efforts to contain it may now apply for low interest loans from the Commonwealth, state lawmakers announced Wednesday.
“While public health is our top priority, we must also be mindful of the challenges this has presented to our small businesses and the people they employ,” said state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint.
Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, explained that $61 million was made available for small businesses through the COVID-19 Working Capital Access Program. This program will feature a low interest rate, no application fees, and payments and interest waived during the first year of the loan. Loans of up to $100,000 will be available for small businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees to use as working capital.
The program is being administered through the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA). Funds are limited and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to qualified businesses, including businesses in the agricultural, service and hospitality sectors.
PIDA said it intends for the turnaround time for loan approval to be a matter of days.
The maximum loan amount is $100,000 for working capital with a 0% interest rate, subject to the statutory requirement for the agriculture sector, and a term of three years.
All PIDA loan applications must be submitted through a Certified Economic Development Organization (CEDO). Local CEDOs include the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission and The Progress Fund. For the full list of CEDO’s operating within Pennsylvania and their contact information, refer to www.dced.pa.gov/CEDO.
More information about the CWCA Program is available at https://dced.pa.gov/programs/covid-19-working-capital-access-program-cwca/.
In addition, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in assistance and can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact.
The interest rate for SBA disaster loans is 3.75% for small businesses without credit available elsewhere; businesses with credit available elsewhere are not eligible. The interest rate for nonprofits is 2.75%. Businesses may obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications can also be downloaded at www.sba.gov/disaster.
