What Exactly IS a P.P.P Loan?

P.P.P. Stands for human growth hormone the Paycheck Protection Program. A government response to the emergency caused by the economic shutdown due to COVID-19, to help employers retain employees displaced because of the pandemic.

How does the Personal Protection Program work for my local business? How can I qualify? Who exactly is getting this money? These are all questions we have heard from many Hawaiian local businesses since the $659 billion program was established in April as a government response to COVID-19.

Just yesterday, reports were released on where all this money was going. In a statement addressing this data as well as the revival of the program which was supposed to expire June 30th, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchen said, “The PPP is providing much-needed relief to millions of American small businesses, supporting more than 51 million jobs and over 80% of all small business employees, who are the drivers of economic growth in our country.”

But what does that mean for Hawaiian small business? How can you get the most out of the P.P.P. program?

As of June 30, 24,534 Hawaiian companies received P.P.P. loans totaling $2.5 billion. 3,228 of these companies received loans over $150,000, and twenty others received loans that ranged $5 to $10 million.

The deadline to apply for a P.P.P loan has been extended to August 8, while a lot of the relief money has gone to larger companies and corporations across the United States as well as Hawaii, it is still valuable to your local business.

How can you apply?

Now that the government has decided to distribute the remaining $138 million, you still have a chance to apply if you have not already.

According to the U.S. Small Business Association, the eligibility to apply are as such:

• Any small business concern that meets SBA’s size standards (either the industry based sized standard or the alternative size standard)
• Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed persons
• Any business with a NAICS Code that begins with 72 (Accommodations and Food Services) that has more than one physical location and employs less than 500 per location
• Any business, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, 501(c)(19) veterans organization, or Tribal business concern (sec. 31(b)(2)(C) of the Small Business Act) with the greater of:
  • 500 employees, or
  • That meets the SBA industry size standard if more than 500

If you meet any of these requirements the way to proceed so you can help your Hawaiian business thrive is simple. According to the SBA, “You can apply through any existing SBA 7(a) lender or through any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating.” They also provide a list of qualified lenders based on state

https://www.sba.gov/document/support–paycheck-protection-program-participating-lenders

What are the benefits?

According to the Star Advertiser, “The loans, up to $10 million can be fully forgivable, and initially up to 25% of loan proceeds could be used for other costs including mortgage, rent and utility expenses.”

While loans can be tricky and daunting at a time when reopening a business can be as financially risky as keeping the doors and windows shuttered, I want to remind you about the importance your business has on the State of Hawaii’s economy.

Shopping local, hiring local, contracting local, these all feed back into the symbiotic island economy. Hawaii is in a unique situation where the economy relies on this support local butterfly effect, when you patron someone else’s local business it gives them the funds to go and spend at another Hawaiian business feeding the kama’aina economy.