The Paycheck Protection Program Is Out of Money, For Now

go if the program reopens, advised Meredith Wood, vice president at Fundera, a company that connects small business owners with loans.

“Work with an institution that is still accepting applications during this time and do your research to ensure you’re fully packaging your application with no errors,” Wood wrote in an email to National Jeweler.

“I would say around 75-90% of the applications we receive need some form of correction—a missing piece of documentation, the wrong documentation, an incorrect payroll calculation, etc.,” said Fundera founder Jared Hecht in a tweet earlier this month.

In a Twitter thread, Hecht also outlined some of the problems banks and applicants have been facing from “antiquated software” that goes down for hours at a time to issues reaching customer service.

He noted some banks have been prioritizing their own customers when it comes to processing the loans.

“There’s unlimited demand for these loans, so banks want to provide preference to their own customers,” tweeted Hecht.

In a Jewelers of America-led webinar last week, Dentons partner Randy Nuckolls echoed that sentiment, noting if retailers use their regular banks, that may speed up the process.

In a message on its website, Fundera said it has a “high level of confidence” Congress will provide additional funding for PPP and is still accepting and packaging applications to send to its bank partners if the program reopens.

In a tweet Friday morning, Jewelers of America shared a link to a form jewelers can fill out and send to Congress, urging legislators to provide more relief for businesses.

The letter suggests appropriating an additional $600 billion for the PPP and providing additional funding for the Exchange Stabilization Fund, a program used during the coronavirus crisis to provide funding for mid-size to large businesses, which JA said may soon run out of money as well.

“The U.S. Treasury is using its Exchange Stabilization Fund during the coronavirus crisis to backstop new Federal Reserve lending programs aimed at stabilizing credit and money markets,” explained The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC.

The JA letter also calls for an extension to the PPP, stating: “It is clear that extended public health restrictions and a slow return to normal work will result in small businesses having limited customers and revenue far beyond June 30.”

The CARES Act prohibits the use of relief funds for non-payroll expenses, including rent and utilities.

The letter asks for a change to this rule, as these expenses represent a “significant portion” of a jeweler’s financial obligations.

For more information about the letter, visit JA’s website.