CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U. S. Virgin Islands – July 22, 2020 – Small-business owners who need to assistance due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) have another opportunity to apply for federal funding from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that is offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (U.S. SBA). According to the U.S. SBA PPP Report, nearly 2,000 U.S. Virgin Islands small businesses territory-wide received loans from the PPP with a value of $124.2 million as of July 17, 2020.
Representatives from the U.S. SBA, Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center (VI SBDC) and Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) are encouraging small-business owners to take advantage of this second opportunity to apply for the PPP. The deadline for the extended PPP application period expires on August 8, 2020. Small-business owners can only apply once for the PPP for each business.
The Economic Development Bank (EDB), an entity of the VIEDA and an approved U.S. SBA lender, will only be accepting PPP applications through July 31, 2020. The EDB’s July 31st deadline allows the EDB staff sufficient time to finalize the complete processing of PPP applications by the U.S. SBA’s August 8, 2020 deadline.
The VIEDA confirmed that as of June 30, 2020, 20 PPP loan applications submitted by local small businesses through the EDB were approved by the U.S. SBA totaling $127,852.53.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) resumed accepting applications July 6, 2020 in response to the U.S. President signing this program’s extension legislation.
Small businesses should contact local U.S. SBA Lender Partners in the Territory to apply for the PPP (Bank of St. Croix, Oriental Bank, Banco Popular de PR and the Economic Development Bank). Small-business owners can also contact their own lending institution to apply.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act which was passed by Congress in March 2020. The PPP is implemented by the U.S. SBA with support from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Small-business owners are encouraged to visit www.sba.gov/coronavirus for the most updated information on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program and other U.S. SBA Programs.
For technical assistance, call the VI SBDC at 340-693-1694, ext. 5104; send an email to info@visbdc.org; or call the VIEDA at 340-714-1700 on St. Thomas or 340-773-6499 on St. Croix; send an email to info@usvieda.org; or visit https://www.usvieda.org/ppp to learn more or to apply.
