Your Business is Essential: Fall 2021 Update–Covid19 relief for U.S. Small Businesses

  Effective on October 8, 2021, enhancements to the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) program were implemented and announced by Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman of the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”). Although states have reopened nationwide, financial uncertainty continues to exist for many American businesses.

As a result, the SBA released Frequently Asked Questions on September 8, 2021, for companies to understand the changes and enhancements. Providing businesses with access to these relief funds and expansions supplied by the SBA is good news for businesses still recovering from the economic impact of Covid-19. Below are significant changes to the program:

1. COVID-19 EIDL cap increased from $500,000 to $2 million. Loan funds can be used for any operating expense and working capital. Expenses include payroll, purchasing equipment, and paying a debt.
2. An extended deferment period was implemented. The time period for repayment of a COVID-19 EIDL is now two years after the loan’s origination. Before, repayments were due one year later.
3. Types of Debt. Under the COVID-19 EIDL program, payments on federal business debt and prepayment of commercial debt are now eligible. 
4. The SBA removed complexities regarding affiliation requirements for COVID-19 EIDL loans. Affiliation requirements are now more similar to the those under the expired Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The change now defines an “affiliated business” as one that the borrower controls or owns 50% of the entity.
5. More ways for business to fulfill program-size eligibility. Businesses holding a NAICS code starting with 61, 71, 72, 213, 3121, 315, 448, 451, 481, 485, 487, 511, 512, 515, 532, or 812, have no more than 500 employees per physical location (and no more than 20 locations), and meet all other COVID-19 EIDL eligibility requirements are now eligible.
6. Single Corporate Groups. Loans to a single corporate group was added for an entity maximum of an aggregate of $10 million in COVID-19 EIDL. Entities are considered a part of a single corporate group if they are owned, directly or indirectly, by a common parent entity.

Contact the experienced attorneys at The Jacobs Law if you need help navigating the process of obtaining Covid-19 relief for your business.

Sources: 

1. United States: SBA Enhancements To COVID-19 EIDL Program. https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/operational-impacts-and-strategy/1120170/sba-enhancements-to-covid-19-eidl-program.
2. COVID EIDL Program Updates. https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/COVID-ProgramUpdates-09082021-508.pdf.