The SBA is responding to small business owners impacted by the Coronavirus with several different forms of assistance. Visit Small Business Development Center, Women’s Business Center, Veteran’s Business Outreach Center or SCORE chapter to get paired with an advisor who can help you fill out the applications for the programs that are discussed below.
Under the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is now available to accept applications. Many banks/lenders will not accept applications today as they want to make sure they have the process in place to get it done. Additionally, of those that are accepting, most will initially only be accepting from their own clients. The SBA is finalizing the process to get non-SBA lenders into the system to help handle the demand.
The SBA expects that over the next few days many more lenders will come on-line. Not every lender who can participate, will participate. The SBA also provides low-interest disaster loans directly to help businesses and homeowners recover from declared disasters. For this disaster, Economic Injury Disaster Loans are currently available throughout the state of New Jersey. You can get access to the online application and information about the SBA disaster loans here. The online application is now open.
The Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program allows small businesses who currently have a business relationship with an SBA Express Lender to access up to $25,000 with less paperwork. These loans can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing and can be a term loan or used to bridge the gap while applying for direction SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans. The package is not yet available but as soon as it is approved and becomes available then we will be sure to let you know.
Current Express lenders in NJ are (doesn’t include all national lenders, just ones who have made at least 15 SBA loans YTD):
- 1st Colonial Community Bank
- 1st Constitution Bank
- BCB Community Bank
- Columbia Bank
- Cross River Bank
- Crown Bank
- Financial Resources FCU
- First Bank
- First Commerce Bank
- Fulton Bank
- JP Morgan Chase
- Kearny Bank
- Lakeland Bank
- Magyar Bank
- Manasquan Bank
- M&T
- New Millennium Bank
- Parke Bank
- Peapack-Gladstone Bank
- PNC
- Provident Bank
- Santander Bank
- Sturdy Savings Bank
- TD Bank
- The First National Bank of Elmer
- Unity Bank
- Wells Fargo
Once guidance is received, the NJ district office will send out notices via media, SBA emails and NJ State partners. If you want to make sure you get the latest updates, please sign up for the SBA newsletter for your area or check regularly at SBA’s page for Coronavirus Small Business Guidance.
Lastly, the State of New Jersey has also been rolling out its own programs to assist business owners. You can see what their response has been at cv.business.nj.gov.
