On March 27, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This bill will provides significant support to businesses. The signature piece of the new law is the “Paycheck Protection Program” which will provide $350 billion to help small businesses keep workers employed amid COVID-19 and economic downturn. This new program provides 100% federally guaranteed loans to small businesses who maintain their payroll during this emergency.  Importantly, these loans may be forgiven if borrowers maintain their payrolls during the crisis or restore their payrolls afterward.

UPDATED: Businesses will be able to apply for these forgivable loans starting April 3rd through most all local banks. The U.S. Treasury Department has issued preliminary guidance that you can view HERE. You can view the fully Treasury website on the program here.

In addition, our friends at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have prepared an easy-to-understand checklist to guide businesses and self-employed individuals through this new program as they prepare to file for a loan.