STATEWIDE — The Paycheck Protection Program aimed at helping small businesses survive the pandemic is back.
According to Maine senior Sen. Susan Collins, the initial round of the PPP helped more than 28,000 small businesses in the state by funneling more than $2.3 billion in forgivable loans as part of last year’s federal COVID-19 relief package.
Small business owners eligible for this round of the program can submit applications beginning Tuesday, Jan. 19. The Republican senator said people will find some differences with the latest version of the Paycheck Protection Program compared to the earlier program.
“You have to have 300 or fewer employees rather than 500. You have to show a revenue loss from one quarter in 2020 to one quarter in 2019 of 25 percent,” she said.
Collins said this time around, publicly traded companies are not allowed to participate in the program.
She said there’s no deadline for applications other than when the money runs out. There is $284 billion available for businesses across the country.
Collins said during the initial round of applications last year, $300 billion was awarded to small businesses in 13 days.
