Treasury secretary says U.S. small business loans available this Friday

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said that small business loans included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act bill enacted late last week would be available to small business owners on Friday of this week.

“I’ve said these loans will be available starting on Friday, which will be at lightning speed,” Mnuchin told Fox Business. “We hope later today that we’ll be releasing the documents and the instructions.”

The relief bill provides $350 billion to small businesses with zero-fee loans of up to $10 million to help cover payroll, available to businesses with less than 500 employees. The loans are forgivable as long as they maintain payroll and pay other overhead.

“We think this covers about 50% of the private workforce. So, again, this is a very effective way that the president has designed for us to keep people at work so that when the economy opens up, they’re ready,” Mnuchin said.

The administration will request more money if it uses up the $350 billion and additional small businesses are still in need of help.

“If we run out of money, and this is a huge success, we will absolutely go back to Congress and ask for more money,” he said.

The application for the loan is currently available on the Small Business Administration’s website. Mnuchin says loans can also be obtained from FDIC-insured institutions and credit unions.

The CARES Act contains a number of programs, funding and tips for small business owners during coronavirus to help every chiropractor and chiropractic practice weather the financial impact, says chiropractic tax and financial expert Mark E. Battersby.

“Most notably, the CARES Act earmarks $349 billion for loans to small businesses and professional practices -– to be spent on rent, payroll and utilities treated as a grant that does not have to be repaid. That’s right, loans of up to $10 million will made available through preferred lenders of the Small Business Administraton (SBA), such as banks and credit unions,” he says.

“The government will pay off the loan balance if the employer either does not lay off workers or rehires already laid-off workers. Those chiropractic practices or businesses that have recently laid-off workers would be required to repay a larger portion of their loans, and loans covering salaries of more than $100,000 a year wouldn’t qualify for forgiveness. No qualifying employer will be required to repay loans covering up to eight weeks worth of payroll costs.”

The SBA now has the authority — and available funds -– to make over $7 billion in loans to qualifying small practices and businesses via SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Each Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance declaration issued by the SBA makes loans available to small businesses and practices in designated areas of a state or territory. 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.”

To learn more go to the Small Business Administration website at sba.gov.

For the latest COVID-19 info for doctors of chiropractic, including upcoming webinars, updates, resources and articles from Chiropractic Economics, go to chiroeco.com/coronavirus-covid-19.