Washington – Upon President Biden signing the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Senior Advisor Michael Roth stated:
“The American Rescue Plan Act enables the SBA to continue to lift up the cornerstones of our communities; the mom-and-pop businesses and nonprofits that provide essential services for our everyday lives, hire from within neighborhoods, and more. Our nation’s more than 30 million small businesses are the economic engine of this country and, in alignment with the Biden-Harris Administration’s focus on equitable treatment, the SBA will work tirelessly to ensure eligible borrowers will get access to this critical economic relief.”
The American Rescue Plan Act’s Small Business Assistance and Support
The American Rescue Plan Act provides additional relief for the nation’s small businesses and hard-hit industries for programs the SBA is currently administering and adds new efforts, including:
- NEW:$28.6 billion for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund for industry-focused grants
- NEW:$100 million to establish a Community Navigator pilot program; grants will go to eligible organizations supporting efforts to improve access to COVID–19 pandemic assistance programs and resources.
- $7.25 billion additional for the Paycheck Protection Program(PPP), including to expand eligibility to additional nonprofits and digital news services
- $15 billion additional for Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance(EIDL) payments, including NEW $5 billion for Supplemental Targeted EIDL Advance payments for those hardest hit
- Additional funds are allocated for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant(SVOG) program, and now allows businesses to apply for both a PPP loan after Dec. 27, 2020, and the SVOG. Other important things to know about the SVOG:
- The program is not currently open, and probably will not open until April 2021
- However, there are several things venue operators who are planning to apply can do now to prepare. The SBA has a checklist, and applicants will also need to register with the SAM tool. Here’s a webinar that walks you through that registration process step by step.
- You can also sign up for email updates from the SBA to hear more information about the SVOG as soon as it’s available.
SBA’s current relief efforts can be found at: www.sba.gov/coronavirusrelief
More details about these program updates and new efforts the SBA will administer in the coming weeks will be located there as well.
