Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 9, 2021 By Christopher Hoffman Special to the Hartford Business Journal T he federal government's Paycheck Protection Program offered businesses and nonprofits loans to pay their employees during the coronavirus pandemic, with the opportunity to seek forgiveness later on. To avoid making payments, recipients must apply for that forgiveness within 10 months of expending the funds. That deadline for the earliest borrowers has come, or is soon coming due. So are recipients applying? And are their loans being forgiven? The answer to both questions is a resounding yes, according to bankers, accountants and federal officials involved in the program. The vast majority of Connecticut borrowers are seeking forgiveness in a timely fashion and seeing their debts wiped out, said Catherine Marx, director of the Small Business Administration's Connecticut District. "I don't have the forgiveness data by state at this time, however, we regularly talk with banks about the process, and it is going well," Marx said. In total, Connecticut businesses received more than 55,000 PPP loans worth $3.2 billion, according to SBA. The program had two parts, the first in 2020 and a second round of funding earlier this year. While there are no specific figures available for Connecticut, 3.3 million of the 5.3 million PPP loans approved nationwide in 2020 had been forgiven as of May 24, according to SBA. Now the SBA is moving to streamline the forgiveness process even more, Marx said. Until now, lenders had to apply to the issuing banks, which reviewed their applications and sent them to SBA. Starting Aug. 4, entities with PPP loans of $150,000 or less will be able to apply directly to SBA through a new portal on its website, Marx said. By eliminating a step, that will make the process easier and faster, she said. "With the new simplified application portal, thousands of Connecticut businesses, and even sole proprietorships that borrowed PPP funds will have these funds forgiven," she said. "Most Connecticut businesses waiting for forgiveness have loans that are $150,000 or less. It was Debt Free Most PPP borrowers seeing pandemic-era emergency loans forgiven Gary Martin Catherine Marx Ion Bank President and CEO David Rotatori said many of the bank's 3,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan recipients have gotten their debts forgiven. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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